Woman from southern China infected with H9 strain of bird flu
China, Nov 06, 2009
An investigation conducted by the Center for Health Protection is ongoing after an imported case of an H9 influenza A infection afflicting a 47-year-old woman from China's southern province of Guangdong surfaced. The woman suffered from breathlessness and a cough on October 26, traveled to Hong Kong for medical treatment and was admitted to Queen Mary Hospital on October 28, the Hong Kong Information Service Department reported on Tuesday (November 3). It was reported that the woman had been put in isolation where she remained in stable condition. Additionally, she had an underlying condition that required regular medication. Because the woman was in Guangdong during the incubation period of the virus, her family members have been put under medical surveillance. As part of the investigation, the center has told health authorities there, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health and Macau's health authorities of the bird flu case. The H9 influenza A form is a mild strain of bird flu and rarely affects humans, according to the Hong Kong Information Service Department. The woman's infection is the sixth time H9 viruses have been seen in humans in Hong Kong. Previously, four girls and one boy were confirmed to have been infected from an H9 infection in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2008. According to ProMed mail, H9 bird flu strains take a mild course and are generally classified as low pathogenic avian influenza agents. ProMed mail has recorded only two cases of H9 influenza virus infections in humans, one in 1999 and the other in 2008. In both cases the infection had been caused by the H9N2 strain of the virus.
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