Saturday, May 23, 2009

China, South Korea report rise in H1N1 flu cases

Posted: 23 May 2009 1105 hrs

090520-0954hrs Commuters wearing masks as a precaution against the swine flu walk through a station in the morning rush hour in Kobe, western Japan

SEOUL: China and South Korea reported a rise in the number of people infected with the H1N1 flu virus on Saturday to seven and five cases respectively.

Seoul said a US woman had been quarantined after being confirmed as South Korea's fifth H1N1 flu case.

The 23 year-old woman, who entered South Korea last week to work as an English teacher, has been infected with the A(H1N1) virus, a spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said.

"She has been quarantined for treatment," he told AFP, adding that health authorities were checking other people whom she might have contacted since she entered the country on May 16.

South Korea has confirmed four cases of the new virus previously, including three Koreans and one Vietnamese traveller.

Meanwhile, a 65-year old Chinese-American man has been confirmed as China's seventh case of H1N1 flu after testing positive for the A(H1N1) virus upon arrival in Beijing, the health ministry said.

The man surnamed Li arrived at Beijing airport on Thursday from New York and was found to be feverish, resulting in his quarantine and further medical tests, the ministry said in a statement.

On Friday, he tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus.

Li was the second case of the flu to be detected in Beijing on Friday, after a 69-year-old man who returned from Canada last week was also confirmed as a carrier of the disease, the ministry said in a separate statement.

Of the seven H1N1 flu cases diagnosed in mainland China, four were detected in the capital Beijing.

The two men diagnosed on Friday remain in stable condition and people who have been in close contact with them have been placed under medical observation, the ministry said.

More than 11,000 H1N1 flu infections and 86 deaths have been confirmed worldwide, the World Health Organisation reported Friday.

- AFP/yb

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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