Hong Kong confirms 2nd
human bird flu infection this winter
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[December 30, 2016]
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong
authorities on Friday confirmed the city's second case of human bird flu
infection this winter, five days after the death of a first patient who
contracted the same H7N9 strain of the disease.
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The Center for Health Protection of the Department of Health said a
70-year-old man with underlying illnesses, who was admitted to
hospital on Dec. 27, was diagnosed with the H7N9 strain on Dec. 29
and was in stable condition.
The case comes as fears grow over the spread of bird flu - in
varying strains - in neighboring South Korea and Japan, as well as
mainland China. At least two people have died from bird flu on the
mainland and five have been infected so far this winter, the season
when bird flu most frequently occurs.
Hong Kong officials said the source of infection was still under
investigation. "Avian influenza is expected to increase in winter
based on its seasonal pattern," a spokesman for the health
protection center said.
The unnamed patient, who was in contact with mobile stalls selling
live poultry in the southern Chinese area of Zhongshan this month,
returned to Hong Kong on Dec. 16, according to city officials. The
man also bought a chilled chicken in Hong Kong's Kwun Tong district
on Dec. 22.
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(Reporting by Donny Kwok and Venus Wu; Editing by Anne Marie
Roantree and Kenneth Maxwell)
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