June 14, 2006

 

China reports suspected human case of bird flu in Shenzhen

 

 

A man suspected of having bird flu in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen may have contracted the disease when his wife brought home a freshly slaughtered chicken from a local market two weeks ago, the government said.

 

Shenzhen is near Hong Kong and its surrounding areas supply poultry to the territory.

 

The man was admitted to the Shenzhen People's Hospital on Jun 9 and is now in critical condition, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday (Jun 13).

 

Samples taken from the patient have tested positive of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at the Shenzhen Centre of Diseases Control but the diagnosis has yet to be verified by China's Ministry of Health, the report said.

 

The man had no contact with live birds before the disease, but two weeks ago he and four family members had eaten a freshly slaughtered chicken that his wife had bought at a local market and cooked at home, Xinhua said.

 

Health experts say close contact with infected birds, including the defeathering or gutting of a freshly slaughtered bird with the virus, puts people at high risk for infection. But the World Health Organization has said that eating well-cooked chicken does not pose any risk of contracting bird flu.

 

He showed symptoms of fever, coughing and a painful back on Jun 3, and was transferred to Shenzhen's Donghu Hospital for advanced treatment Tuesday. The rest of the family did not show similar symptoms, but they were put under medical observation, the report said.

 

Shenzhen is a bustling boomtown just across the mainland border from Hong Kong. It is a popular shopping and business destination for Hong Kongers.

 

Hong Kong health chief York Chow said the territory's immigration borders and hospitals have stepped up precautions and disease control monitoring.

 

"If this case is confirmed as H5N1, we might have to temporarily ban chicken imports from Guangdong," Chow told reporters.

 

Chow added he was concerned about suspected human bird flu infections in areas where no bird flu outbreak has been reported. A team of Hong Kong officials will travel to Shenzhen Wednesday to study the case, he said.

Bird flu has killed at least 128 people worldwide since it started ravaging Asian poultry farms in late 2003.

 

The man would become China's 19th reported human case if he is confirmed as having the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, Xinhua said. Twelve people have died.