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68 quarantined in Shanghai after flight from Mexico with flu case

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-03 19:51

SHANGHAI -- Sixty-eight people who were on the same flight from Mexico City to Shanghai with a Mexican national later diagnosed with influenza A(H1N1) in Hong Kong, have been located and are in quarantine in Shanghai, health officials told reporters Sunday.

None have displayed any flu symptoms, according to Xu Jianguang, head of the municipal health bureau.

The Mexican, a 25-year-old male, arrived in Shanghai Thursday aboard    flight Aeromexico 098, which carried 176 passengers and 13 crew members. The Mexican, together with some other passengers, flew on to Hong Kong, taking China Eastern Airlines flight MU505.

The week-long quarantine in Shanghai affects 48 passengers whose destination was Shanghai, seven passengers who intended to go on to other destinations, and the 13 crew members.

Full coverage:  A（H1N1） Influenza Outbreak Related readings: Mainland reacts to HK's 1st case HK detects no new A(H1N1) flu case 17 passengers on flight from Mexico quarantined China examines passengers on flight from Mexico

They were divided into two groups in two hotels, one in Nanhui district, the other in Pudong district.

Fifty-nine relatives of the 48 Shanghai passengers were ordered to remain at home for observation.

Among the 176 passengers on AM098, excluding the 55 in Shanghai, 111 went to 18 Chinese provinces and municipalities, which have taken similar measures against the epidemic, while 10 others left the Chinese mainland, going to Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Fifteen of those who went elsewhere in China remain under a seven-day quarantine at a hotel in Beijing. None have developed flu symptoms.

The Mexican became Hong Kong's first confirmed case of influenza A(H1N1) infection Friday. It was also the first such case in Asia.