Two cases of bird flu in humans involving family members in
Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province, have been effectively
contained, Ministry of Health said, adding all close contacts
involved have been released from medical observation.
"None of those in close contact showed unusual symptoms and they
were all released from medical observation on Dec. 12," the
ministry said in a statement posted at its website (www.moh.gov.cn) on Thursday.
China announced on Dec. 2 that a 24-year-old man surnamed Lu in
the provincial capital Nanjing died of H5N1 infection. On Dec. 7,
the man's father was also confirmed to be infected with the
virus.
About 80 people who had contact with either man were put under
close medical observation.
"The father, who has been under intensive medical treatment, is
in stable condition and showing signs of improvement," the ministry
said in the statement.
So far, the means of transmission remained unknown and experts
were still conducting an investigation.
The son was said to have no known contact with dead poultry. In
addition, the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said
last week that no bird flu epidemic had been discovered in the
province.
The ministry said that local health authorities had tightened
monitoring on pneumonia cases and collected a large number of
samples. "All samples tested (H5N1) negative and no suspicious or
unusual cases were discovered," it said.
The latest cases bring the number of confirmed bird flu cases in
humans in China to 27 since 2003. During that period, there have
been 17 deaths.
(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2007)