9 new cases bring flu tally to 58

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-04 09:40

BEIJING -- Nine new cases of A(H1N1) flu were reported in south China's Guangdong Province and eastern Fujian Province on Wednesday, bringing the tally of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland to 58.

Four cases in Guangdong respectively involved two women, aged 41 and 61, a 29-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy, said the Guangdong Provincial Department of Health.

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The 41-year-old Chinese Canadian traveled to Zhongshan City, Guangdong, on May 29 from Toronto, Canada, via Hong Kong. She developed cough and a fever two days later. She was receiving treatment at hospital in Shunde City at present.

Another woman, a Chinese American, arrived in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, on May 28 from San Francisco, the United States. She was sent to hospital on June 1 due to some flu symptoms, and was diagnosed positive to A(H1N1) flu.

The 29-year-old American man was found having a fever at Guangzhou airport on Monday after he flew to Guangzhou from New York (on flight OZ 221 New York-Seoul and flight OZ 369 Seoul-Guangzhou).

The Chinese boy fell ill at his Guangzhou home on Tuesday, one day after he arrived in Hong Kong from New York via Los Angeles and Seoul.

A total of 117 people who had close contacts with the four patients have been put under medical observation, the department said.

Fujian discovered five new cases on Wednesday, including two cases of local transmission, said the province's health department.

A four-year-old girl living in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, was infected after she met with her three sisters from the United States on May 28. After her sisters were diagnosed A(H1N1) positive early this week, she also fell ill.

Another local transmission involved a 46-year-old Chinese man who had traveled and had meals with a friend from New York in the past days. He and his friend, a 46-year-old American male, were both confirmed as A(H1N1) flu patients on Wednesday.

Two other new cases involved a 33-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man, both from New York to Fuzhou on May 28 (on flight CX 889 New York-Hong Kong and flight KA 660 Hong Kong-Fuzhou), said the health department.

There have been no death due to the disease on the Chinese mainland.

Wednesday also saw the recovery of two patients infected with A(H1N1) via close contact with a confirmed case in Guangdong Province.

The two females -- a 22-year-old beautician surnamed Xue and her colleague 24-year-old surnamed Dai -- tested negative for the A(H1N1) on Monday and Tuesday after treatment, said Yang Zhan, head of Guangzhou No.8 People's Hospital.

Their temperature is normal and flu symptoms have disappeared, Yang said, adding that they can leave the hospital any time after 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The two beauticians, who work at a wedding photography studio in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, were two cases of local transmission on the mainland.

They got the infection after close contact with a 28-year-old Chinese-American man after he flew from New York to Guangzhou. The man and his girlfriend spent two days with studio workers, including the beauticians, taking bridal photos, before he was confirmed to be infected.