Guangdong on alert after HK bird flu case

GUANGZHOU - South China's Guangdong province is on high alert after a Hong Kong hospital confirmed that it has admitted a two-year-old boy infected with the H5 strain of avian influenza.

The boy was admitted to a Hong Kong hospital on May 28 with convulsions after arriving from Guangdong's capital city of Guangzhou. He tested positive for the H5 strain.

The boy was confirmed to have been in contact with a live duck between May 17 and 19 at a farmer's market in Guangzhou. However, tests conducted at the market and surrounding markets, as well as a hospital in Zhuangzhou that had admitted the boy, found no signs of a bird flu outbreak, said He Jianfeng, director of the Epidemic Studies Institute of the Guangdong Disease Control Center.

He said the province has launched an avian influenza response plan and is keeping track of the whereabouts of those who were in close contact with the child, as well as monitoring their health.

None of the people in contact with the child had exhibited abnormalities as of 5:30 pm Saturday, He said.