Hong Kong On High Alert After First H7N9 Bird Flu Infection

HongKong_BirdFlu_2013Hong Kong (CNN) — Hong Kong is on high alert after an Indonesian domestic helper contracted the city’s first human case of H7N9 avian flu, the city’s government says.

The 36-year-old maid is in hospital in a critical condition, Ko Wing-man, Hong Kong’s secretary for food and health said in a statement.

The woman had recently traveled to Shenzhen, the mainland Chinese city nearest to Hong Kong, where she bought, slaughtered and ate a chicken, Ko added. Her close contacts have also been isolated in hospital.

Ko said that Hong Kong had raised its level of preparedness for an influenza pandemic to “serious.”

Human infections from the H7N9 strain of bird flu first emerged in Shanghai in March this year and within weeks more than 100 cases were confirmed, according to the World Health Organization.

Source: CNN