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Mainland confirmed flu cases hit 32

By Wang Qian in Beijing and Liang Qiwen in Guangzhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-01 08:13

China reported eight new A(H1N1) influenza cases Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases on the mainland to 32.

Five of those cases were in Guangdong, with one in Beijing, one in Zhejiang and one in Fujian.

In Guangdong:

A 23-year-old Chinese woman from Venezuela tested positive for H1N1 yesterday.

She left Venezuela on May 25, transferred to another plane in Paris and arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the afternoon of May 26. She then went straight to Foshan with relatives.

So far, 10 people who had close contact with her have been quarantined.

The second confirmed case yesterday evening in Guangzhou is a 22-year-old woman who works as a beautician at a wedding photography studio.

She had close contact with a 28-year-old Chinese-American man surnamed Li, who works in a New York hospital and spent two days with studio workers taking bridal photos with his girlfriend on Monday and Tuesday. She is the second infected local case in China. One of her co-workers was earlier confirmed to have the virus.

Two other cases involved siblings, 18 and 20 years old, who flew from New York City to Hong Kong on May 28 with their mother.

They were found to have flu symptoms when they crossed the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and were sent to a hospital in Shenzhen.

They were confirmed to have H1N1 Sunday.

The last confirmed case in Guangdong yesterday was a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who flew to Hong Kong from Toronto with her parents and brother on May 29.

After arriving they took a bus directly to Shenzhen on May 30.

The girl had flu symptoms when she came across the border and was sent to a hospital in Shenzhen where she tested positive for H1N1 yesterday afternoon.

The new Beijing case is a seven-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who flew from Canada to Beijing on Saturday afternoon. She went directly to Ditan Hospital on arrival after her temperature was measured at 38.1 C at the airport.

In Fujian, the man flew from New York to Hong Kong via Vancouver on Tuesday. He flew to Fuzhou on Thursday morning.

He showed symptoms on Saturday and received treatment in hospital. Test results confirmed he was positive for H1N1.

The Zhejiang case is a 39-year-old resident of Hangzhou. She went to Australia on May 17 and flew back from Melbourne to Hong Kong on Saturday and then flew to Hangzhou later that day.

A 19-year-old man in Guangdong was also suspected to have H1N1 on Saturday. He is expected to be the first case without any visible symptoms in the country, the local health department said yesterday.

Full coverage:  A（H1N1）Influenza Outbreak Related readings:  Mainland reports 2 new flu cases, tally at 26  HK confirms another three cases of A(H1N1) flu  China reports three new confirmed A(H1N1) flu cases  Shanghai's 1st A(H1N1) flu patient discharged  A (H1N1) flu continues to spread worldwide

The Chinese-American went to Dongguan from New York City with five friends on May 19. They visited Hong Kong on May 27, and went back to the mainland through the border of Luohu in Shenzhen that night. Two of them were later confirmed to have H1N1.

Friday morning, he tested positive for H1N1.

The unique thing is he did not have any flu symptoms.

"He even does not feel sick," said Zhang Qiaoli, a doctor at the Dongguan center for disease control and prevention.

On Saturday afternoon, another test found his swab samples to be negative.

If tests show him free of the virus, he can leave isolation on Thursday.

"However, the case is telling us our work will be tougher in the future, as some potential patients can transmit the virus without visible symptoms," she said.