Hong Kong Faces Swine Flu

2009-05-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong Confirms First H1N1 Swine Flu Case

By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
01 May 2009

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-05-01-voa39.cfm

Hong Kong has declared a public health emergency,following the first confirmed case of the Swine influenza A-H1N1 flu in the territory. In Hong Kong, the top health official vowed to apply "draconian" measures to contain the spread of the virus.

A 25-year-old Mexican tourist who arrived Thursday afternoon in Hong Kong via Shanghai is the first case of human swine flu in the territory. The man felt sick hours after arrival and went to the nearest hospital, where doctors suspected swine flu and quickly isolated the patient.

Pandemic alert level raised

The swine flu virus was confirmed at eight o'clock Friday night. Within half an hour Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang raised the territory's pandemic alert level from serious to emergency.

Dr. York Chow, secretary of health, says the Metropark Hotel where the tourist has been staying has been closed. Hotelworkers and guests are now under quarantine for the next 7 days. Police and health personnel have been deployed to the hotel, located in the city's nightclub area. The Mexican tourist's companions are also under isolation.

"Since this is the first case in HK we must be very careful as the chance of controlling and containing this infection is limited," Dr. Chow said. "We try to be more draconian in our policy. We still do not know how damaging or how virulent this virus will be and we do not like this to spread in our community and we do not like it to spread outside Hong Kong either."

Health workers tracking hotel guests, passengers who may be infected

But health workers are still tracking other hotel guests and nearly 200 passengers who flew on the same China Eastern flight MU505 from Shanghai.

Chow says more measures will be taken in the next few days, starting with even tighter surveillance at borders. The Mexican tourist did not have fever when he came to Hong Kong but complained of sore throat.

In 2003, Hong Kong was struck by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, which killed 299 people in the territory and rapidly spread to several countries. The government then was criticized for its weak and slow response to the unfolding crisis, which brought economic activity in the territory to a virtual standstill.

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Tourist with swine flu prompts Hong Kong to quarantine 300 in hotel

Associated Press

Posted: 05/01/2009 12:26:21 PM PDT

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12273070

A Mexican tourist visiting Hong Kong has become Asia's first confirmed swine flu case, authorities said Friday, as they quarantined about 300 people at a hotel where he stayed and began searching for those he may have contacted.

With memories of 2003's deadly SARS outbreak still fresh, officials or

dered the weeklong quarantine and treatment of 200 guests and 100 staff at the Metropark Hotel. The 25-year-old man was isolated at a hospital and was in stable condition Friday.

Health workers wearing full body suits wiped the tables, floor and windows of one of the hotel rooms as guests in other rooms waved to photographers. It wasn't immediately clear if the room was where the patient stayed.

Police officers wearing gloves and masks guarded the building. And later Friday, more than 20 people wearing masks walked out of the hot

el and into ambulances and were taken away. Their condition wasn't immediately clear.

Officials also began the task of tracking down people whom the patient came into contact with on his journey to Hong Kong.

The patient had flown to Hong Kong via Shanghai on China Eastern Airlines flight MU 505 and developed a fever after arriving in the territory Thursday afternoon, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang told reporters.

The Mexican tourist's diagnosis was confirmed by Hong Kong's Health Department and the University of Hong Kong, Tsang said.

Officials want to track down the 140 other passengers on the flight, paying special attention to passengers who sat near him, and urged the taxi drivers who drove him to contact health officials, Secretary for Foodand Health York Chow told reporters.

The patient, who was traveling with two others, took taxis from Hong Kong's airport to his hotel and from the hotel to the hospital, but did not venture out otherwise, Chow said.

The two others who were traveling with the Mexican and a friend he came into contact with during his stay have also been isolated in a hospital but have not shown symptoms of illness, Chow said

As a precaution, the government will treat the hotel's guests with the antiviral drug Tamiflu, Chow said. The hotel has about 200 guests and 100 staff, Director of Health Lam Ping-yan said.

In contrast to its tough measures Friday, the Hong Kong government was accused of responding slowly when severe acute respiratory syndrome spread in 2003 from southern China.

A infected doctor who checked into a Hong Kong hotel later died, but not before infecting a Hong Kong resident and 16 other hotel guests. Those guests spread the virus internationally. SARS eventually killed more than 770 people, including 299 in Hong Kong.

"Given the current situation, I'd rather err on the side of caution than miss the opportunity to contain the disease," Tsang said.

But the Hong Kong leader also urged calm, saying that all public activities would proceed as normal.

Even before the swine flu case emerged, Hong Kong officials had already stepped up precautions, screening visitors for fever and ordering air travelers to fill out health declaration forms.

The government also launched a citywide cleanup. Public toilets are being cleaned every two hours and escalators in wet markets are wiped down every hour.

While South Korea has reported three probable cases of swine flu, the Hong Kong case is the first confirmed in Asia, where governments have bee

n stepping up precautions to prevent its spread from other parts of the world.

In the Pacific, New Zealand has reported four lab-confirmed swine flu cases and 12 other probable cases.

Nearly 170 people suspected of having swine flu have died in Mexico, and more than 3,000 have been sickened. One toddler has died in the United States, and half a dozen countries in Europe have confirmedcases, as doCanada and Israel.

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Swine Flu

Hong Kong Confronts Swine Flu

Vivian Wai-yin Kwok, 05.04.09, 0

5:05 AM EDT

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/04/hk-swine-flu-markets-economy-mexico.html?partner=yahoobuzz

With the shadow of the SARS epidemic darkening its past, Hong Kong aggressively fights to prevent widespread transmission of Swine Flu.

The Hong Kong government warned that an outbreak of swine flu may happen before the summer holiday after the city confirmed the first case of H1N1 influenza in Asia last Friday.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok warned Sunday that it was just a matter of time before the World Health Organization raised its epidemic alert level to the highest degree, and an outbreak of the deadly epidemic was difficult to avoid in highly populated Hong Kong, the epicenter of the SARS outbreak in 2003. SARS killed nearly 300 people in Hong Kong alone, and around 800 worldwide.

The Mexican, whose name hasn't been disclosed, was admitted to a hospital in Hong Kong on Thursday night, just seven hours after he landed the city after flying via Shanghai from Mexico. The patient had a fever and other flu symptoms, and tested positive on Friday for swine flu virus.

Chow and a team of experts, including microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung of the University of Hong Kong, are speeding up their efforts to track down those who had close contact with the victim in Hong Kong. They are hoping to delay any outbreak until summer so as to avoid a scenario in which doctors and scientists do not have time to prepare a sufficient amount of vaccine or gather enough clinical data to help fight the disease.

Seared by its SARS experience, Hong Kong is taking no chances. About 30 passengers who sat close to the Mexican tourist on the plane have all been traced. Another 300 guests and staff at Hong Kong's Metro Park hotel where he stayed have been quarantined for seven days, starting Friday night. However medical officers are still looking for a further 50 hotel guests who have not returned to the hotel since the news of the quarantine became public.

The names of the missing guests have been passed to Immigration Department officials in order to prevent them from leaving the city and potentially spreading the virus to other countries.

In addition, a taxi driver who could be carrying the H1N1 flu virus is still at large, perhaps still driving passengers around the city. Hong Kong authorities believed they had located the taxi driver who had taken the Mexican man to a hospital after a driver called the government hotline to claim he had driven the man there. But the caller admitted Sunday that he had lied, saying he just wanted to test whether the government hotline was efficient.

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My Reaction

1. Hong Kong is stepping up checks at border points. Hong Kong already uses equipment that scans arriving travelers to detect elevated temperatures, with doctors and nurses on hand to conduct further tests if necessary. All travelers will now need to pass through an infra red scanner and should expect some small delays.

2. It has assigned a team of scientists to develop a test that will hopefully cut the time it takes to diagnose the new swine flu strain from a few days to a few hours.

3. Though the influenza H1N1 has caused some panic, the Asian countries, which still have the fresh memory of the SARS in 2003, can draw lessons from that outbreak to control the spread of the new flu virus and minimize its impacts.

4. There have been worries that the airlines, tourism industry and international trades would suffer heavy losses as the flu scare spreads, which may worsen the already deepening economic slowdown in the world.

5. In the Asian Pacific region, many countries, including China, Japan, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, have issued travel warning, asking their nationals to cancel non-essential trips to Mexico and other flu-hit areas.

6. The governments have done a good job in containing and taking the necessary action.

7. People need to use precaution in hygiene just as you would do if the regular influenza was active in your area. Hand washing is the most important tool in medicine to prevent the spread. Another tool is covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze with a clean tissue. Taking supplements and vitamins to help increase your immune system will help fight off infections and the flu. If you are very concerned, then go to most any drug store and buy facial masks which will help prevent airborne infection. Also, being aware, keep informed, but not panicking will keep people safe and healthy.

8. Don't count on those disposable masks to completely protect you against the swine flu. The loosefitting masks were designed to help stop droplets from spreading from the person wearing the mask. They also protect the wearer's mouth and nose from splashes. They are not created to protect the wearer from breathing in very small particles.

Conclusion

Hong Kong raised the highest emergency alert level after a 25-year-old Mexican tourist was found to be carrying H1N1 or swine flu virus on Friday in the first confirmed case in Asia. He was isolated at a hospital and was in stable condition.

The swine flu outbreak started in Mexico and quickly spread to many countries including the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand and Israel. Health authorities in Asia have already activated pandemic plans Thursday after the World Health Organization raised its global alert to its second highest level, warning of an "imminent pandemic".

An outbreak of swine flu may happen before summer holiday after Hong Kong found the first confirmed case of H1N1 influenza in Asia.

Hong Kong is now speeding up to prevent an outbreak of H1N1. The city’s government is tracking down all passengers from the same flight of the Mexican man, taxi drivers, and hundreds of guests and staff at Metropark Hotel and treats them. They are also trying to delay spreading of H1N1 until they know more about the virus and have sufficient vaccine.

Profile

2009-05-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sasithorn Sriworapattarakul
4907640827 No. 79