New Flu Cases Confirmed in China, Hong Kong

HONG KONG -- Health authorities in China and Hong Kong confirmed two new cases of the A/H1N1 virus, both in people arriving on flights from North America.

China's Health Ministry said on its Web site that lab results showed a 19-year-old man, identified by the surname Lü, tested positive for the disease also known as human swine flu after arriving in Beijing from Canada aboard Air Canada flight AC029 on Friday. The ministry didn't say where the man was flying from. Air Canada's Web site shows AC029 originates in Toronto and stops in Vancouver before landing in Beijing.

The patient took a train from Beijing to the eastern city of Jinan, and was taken to an infectious disease hospital by Jinan health authorities, the ministry said. His condition was improving, it said. Authorities were searching for people who might have come into contact with the man.

Mr. Lü is mainland China's second case of A/H1N1. A 30-year-old man who flew to China from the U.S. was confirmed as the first case Monday.

More than 5,700 cases of A/H1N1 influenza have been recorded around the world so far, according to the World Health Organization. While the disease is considered less dangerous than early reports suggested, health officials remain concerned that it could become more lethal over time.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong health officials confirmed the territory's second case of human swine flu. A 24-year-old resident of the territory was hospitalized with mild symptoms of the disease after arriving from San Francisco on a Cathay Pacific flight on May 11, they said.

Thomas Tsang, controller of Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection, and Gabriel Leung, undersecretary for food and health, said officials were looking to contact 51 people who sat within three rows of the sick man on the flight. Officials said 45 of the people had already left Hong Kong.

The remaining six have been contacted and are being quarantined. Quarantine arrangements have also been made for his family. Officials said the victim didn't circulate widely within the community after his arrival in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's previous victim of human swine flu had stayed at a business hotel, prompting the government to impose a controversial quarantine on all staff and residents of the hotel for seven days. That quarantine expired Friday night.

(WSJ)

China reports suspected swine flu case

BEIJING — A Chinese man returning from studying at a U.S. university has become the first suspected case of swine flu in mainland China, the Health Ministry said Sunday.

The ministry identified the patient as a 30-year-old student surnamed Bao, but did not specify where he studied.

China has been accused in the past of not acting quickly enough to combat the spread of diseases, especially the 2003 global outbreak of SARS. Chastened by that experience and subsequent threats from avian flu, the government this time has acted quickly and decisively to block an outbreak, but some of its measures have been criticized as excessive.

The swine flu-prevention measures include bans on imports of pork from Mexico, some U.S. states and Alberta in Canada. Beijing has also canceled direct flights between China and Mexico. Authorities require arriving travelers with flu-like symptoms to report themselves and have placed some travelers under weeklong quarantines.

China's tough measures drew complaints from Mexico that citizens were being quarantined based on nationality. China has defended the steps as necessary to block swine flu from entering the world's most populous nation.

The Chinese territory of Hong Kong earlier reported a case of swine flu diagnosed in a 25-year-old Mexican who flew to the city.

The virus has killed at least 53 people and sickened more than 4,370 in 29 countries, mostly in the U.S. and Mexico, but has so far largely spared Asia.

(AP)

Flu spat cools budding Mexico-China relationship

MEXICO CITY, May 5 - China's decision to quarantine dozens ofMexicans to guard against the spread of a deadly new flu has soured therelationship between the two exporters, which compete for access to the U.S. market.

Still, a desire on both sides to boost bilateral trade and ship moreMexican raw materials to fast-growing China means the diplomatic flap should only be a temporary setback.

Mexico accused China of discrimination after Beijing, worried about theH1N1 flu strain, ordered some 70 Mexicans, including a honeymooning couple, into seclusion, even though none had symptoms.

Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa called the isolation measures"unacceptable" and "without foundation" and advised Mexicans against traveling to China.

China rejected the criticism, saying the steps it had taken were purely medical and not discriminatory.

"This should not affect the relationship in the medium-term because weare talking about an overreaction on both sides," said Enrique Dussel,an expert on Mexican-Chinese trade at the UNAM University in Mexico City.

Across China, a Mexican man in Hong Kong was the only person found to beinfected with the new flu strain that has killed 26 people in Mexico,two in the United States and made more than 1,500 people ill in 22 countries.

China sent a plane from Shanghai on Tuesday to pick up about 100 of itscitizens from Mexico, mainly tourists, students and business people.Some Chinese had been holed up in hotels in northern Mexico for days waiting to leave.

The spat has revived old tensions between the two nations, which
established diplomatic relations in 1972. There has been intense trade
rivalry in recent years with Mexico blaming China for muscling in on its
top export territory by flooding the United States with cheap goods made
in low-wage factories.

UNEASY RELATIONSHIP

President Felipe Calderon visited Beijing last July in a push to improve bilateral trade and Chinese President Hu Jintao came to Mexico in 2005 promising more investment in areas like auto parts manufacturing and mineral exploration.

Yet China has leaned more on South American commodities producers like Brazil and Chile for the materials it needs to fuel its export-oriented economy.

Mexico exported just $2 billion worth of goods to China last year, Dussel said, but imported $34 billion of Chinese products, from clothing and electronics to tourist trinkets.

"Of all the major countries in Latin America, China has the most tense relationship with Mexico," said Dan Erikson, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.

"The swine flu crisis has just revealed once again that they haven't built the partnership that both countries say that they want," Erikson said.

Other flu-affected nations have had citizens ensnared in China's quarantine measures, including at least four from the United States and more than 20 from Canada, but Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, said it has been unfairly targeted.

The person-to-person spread of the virus has kept alive fears of a pandemic, though scientists say this strain does not appear more deadly than common seasonal flu, which can kill 250,000 to 500,000 people a year globally.

Governments around the world are reacting to the outbreak with different levels of severity. Many suspended flights or warned their citizens against travel to Mexico.

Even as Mexico said the flu crisis seemed to be dissipating and prepared to reopen closed businesses, Chinese nationals wearing face masks and loaded with luggage streamed aboard a Chinese-chartered jet that stopped in Mexico City and the northern city of Tijuana.

"There is a lot of mutual ignorance and no strategic framework. This just shows there is a lot of work to be done" to improve ties, Dussel said.

(Reuters)

Mexican plane to pick up nationals in China

BEIJING, May 5 - An aircraft was due to land in China on Tuesday to take home dozens of Mexicans who have been under forced quarantine, straining diplomatic relations, as a protective measure against a new flu strain.

The confined Mexicans have become players in a larger drama about how far governments should go to stifle fears that the H1N1 virus could creep through their borders.

Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa accused China at the weekend of discrimination after Beijing ordered dozens of Mexicans into seclusion across the country, although only one, a man now in Hong Kong, was found to have the H1N1 flu.

China has denied the charge, saying isolation was the correct procedure, but both countries have agreed to send aircraft to pick up their respective nationals.

A Chinese aircraft has already left for Mexico to pick up Chinese left stranded there after China suspended scheduled, direct flights to the country, the Foreign Ministry said.

An Aeromexico flight will arrive in Shanghai on Tuesday and fly on to Beijing and Guangzhou, an airline official said.

None of those quarantined had shown any signs of being infected, the Chinese Health Ministry said.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said the Mexicans in Beijing were doing well inside a hotel where they have been confined, though the air conditioning has been turned off to prevent any spread of disease despite temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius (86 F) outside.

They were put in the best rooms and sent fruit and flowers every day, Xinhua said, citing Deng Xiaohong, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.

"The Mexicans said they were grateful for our work. They said they feel it was understandable to be quarantined as it was a necessary method to avoid the spread of the virus," Deng was quoted as saying.

Staff at the hotel contacted by telephone would not let Reuters talk to any of the Mexicans.

A Mexican embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was in regular contact with its nationals. "They feel okay," the official said, declining further comment.

In Shanghai, the Mexicans -- including a honeymooning couple -- had been quarantined at a four-star hotel with a sea view, Xinhua said.

"They can contact people outside, watch television, listen to music, read books or surf the Internet," it added.

In a further diplomatic tussle, Canada said it would pursue World Trade Organization action against China if it maintains its ban on pork and hogs from the province of Alberta [nN04406901]. China's Commerce Ministry had no immediate response.

The one Mexican in China found to have the H1N1 virus arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday after passing through Shanghai. Many of the confined Mexicans were on his flight to Shanghai.

China's vast population and patchy medical infrastructure make it vulnerable should the virus take hold. But even Mexicans residing outside their country have been held by Chinese authorities, the Mexican Embassy spokeswoman said.

(Reuters)

Hong Kong 'flu' hotel sealed off

About 300 people at a Hong Kong hotel have been placed under quarantine after a guest there became China's first confirmed swine flu case.

The 25-year-old man, who is now in hospital after testing positive for the virus, had travelled from Mexico via Shanghai, Hong Kong's leader said.

Local TV footage showed police wearing masks guarding the hotel exits.

Meanwhile, the UK joined Canada, Spain, Germany and the US in reporting person-to-person transmission of the virus.

On Friday, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said two people were infected with swine flu, France's first confirmed cases.

South Korea has also confirmed its first case, local media said.

The announcements take to 16 the number of countries where swine flu has been confirmed.

Mexico, where the outbreak began, has shut down parts of its economy for five days in a bid to curb the virus's progress.

Late on Friday, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova announced the confirmed death toll from the virus had risen by one, to 16.

"The mortality rate isn't as great as could be expected," said Mr Cordova. "The majority of the deaths are women."

Mexican officials say the spread of swine flu - suspected in more than 380 deaths - is slowing.

International experts are more cautious - but one, Nancy Cox, chief of America's Center for Disease Control's influenza division, said the new virus lacked the traits that made the 1918 pandemic so deadly.

"We do not see the markers for virulence that were seen in the 1918 virus," she said.

'No panic'

In cases outside Mexico the effects of the virus do not appear to be severe, although one death of a Mexican child has been confirmed in the US.

The WHO has set its pandemic alert level at five - but says it has no immediate plans to move to the highest level of six.

In Hong Kong, the authorities have raised the alert level to emergency but urged residents to carry on life as normal.

"I assure you the Hong Kong government will try its best to conquer the virus," Chief Executive Donald Tsang said.

"I stress we don't need to panic."

The Mexican man is said to be in a stable condition in Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital, after seeking treatment on Thursday night after becoming unwell.

The Metropark Hotel in Wanchai district where he briefly stayed will be sealed off for seven days, health officials said, and the antiviral drug Tamiflu given to about 200 guests and 100 staff there.

Medical staff wearing protective clothing were seen carrying boxes of equipment into the building.

Efforts are also under way to trace people who travelled on the same flights as the Mexican, and taxi drivers with whom he came into contact.

BBC China Editor Shirong Chen says confirmation that the man has tested positive for the virus has set alarm bells ringing beyond Hong Kong.

Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said the virus was very likely to enter mainland China and urged the country to prepare for an outbreak, as millions start travelling over the May Day long weekend.

In South Korea, a 51-year-old woman who had recently returned from Mexico was confirmed as the country's first case, Yonhap news agency reported.

Two other people are being tested for the virus, the agency said.

Schools closed

Meanwhile, the authorities in Mexico hope a nationwide shut-down ordered from Friday, covering two public holidays and a weekend, will help curb the spread of the virus.

Some factories will stop production and schools are already closed. Residents have been urged to stay at home, but it is not clear how widely the shut-down order will be followed.

The number of confirmed cases of swine flu infection in Mexico now stands at more than 300, officials say.

Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said on Friday that three more deaths from swine flu had been confirmed, bringing the toll to 15.

Announcing the figure, Mr Cordova said that new cases of the virus were levelling off.

But Dr Keiji Fukuda, acting assistant director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said fluctuations were to be expected.

In other developments:

• The US announces that it will buy 13 million new courses of antiviral treatment and send 400,000 of them to Mexico

• A flight from Germany to Washington DC is diverted to Boston after a female passenger complains of flu-like symptoms

• An aide to US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu who helped arrange President Barack Obama's recent trip to Mexico is being tested for swine flu, although the aide is said not to have been in contact with the president

• The head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is fine for people without flu symptoms to fly and use the subway, a day after Vice-President Joe Biden said he would advise his own family members against using public transport

• Denmark reports its first confirmed case of swine flu

• German authorities confirm that a nurse who treated a patient with swine flu also contracted the disease, in the first person-to-person transmission in the country

• Test results confirm the UK's first person-to-person transmission of swine flu, in a friend of a couple from Scotland who were first in the country to be diagnosed with the virus

Several countries have restricted travel to Mexico and many tour operators have cancelled holidays.

The WHO, meanwhile, says it will now call the virus influenza A (H1N1) rather than swine flu - which it says is misleading as pork meat is safe and the virus is being transmitted from human to human.

(BBC)

China-donated anti-flu goods arrives in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Xinhua) -- A cargo plane ferrying the first load of China-donated relief supplies to help Mexico battle an outbreak of Influenza A/H1N1 landed at a Mexico City airport early Friday.

The humanitarian aid, including masks, latex gloves, isolation coats, disinfectant and infrared thermometers, was received in a ceremony attended by Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

The goods are part of a 5 million U.S. dollar assistance package that the Chinese government has offered Mexico to help it fight the A/H1N1 flu outbreak.

China's donation was the first massive arrival of material assistance that has reached Mexico since the flu outbreak began in April.

Calderon said at the ceremony that China's help was appreciated. He noted that sanitary security was not only an issue for Mexico but also for the entire world.

Calderon said the methods China used while fighting the 2003 outbreak of SARS -- severe acute respiratory syndrome -- should be learned by Mexico.

The president expressed confidence that Mexico will win the battle with the virus through the efforts of its citizens and outside aid.

Yin Hengmin, the Chinese ambassador to Mexico, said his countrymen feel for Mexico, and the government is ready to offer help of any kind.

The Chinese Embassy on Thursday donated 50,000 U.S. dollars to the Red Cross in Mexico to help people there fight the flu, Yin said.

"We are convinced that Mexico... is capable of overcoming the epidemic and restoring the normal order of life and production in maximum brevity," the ambassador said.

The Chinese government on Thursday pledged 5 million dollars worth of humanitarian assistance to Mexico, including one million dollars in cash and four million dollars in medical supplies.

The funds were transferred to the Mexican government Thursday and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) is coordinating with related government agencies to arrange the rest of the relief materials.

MOC spokesman Yao Jian said Friday that China was highly concerned about the situation in Mexico and nations should work together to counter the spread of the flu virus.

In addition to China, Spain, the United States, Japan and the World Bank also have offered aid to Mexico.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said Thursday the number of confirmed Influenza cases has risen to 312, with 12 of them being fatalities.

(Xinhua)

China bans pig and pork imports from Mexico, U.S.

Apr. 30, 2009 - China, the world's biggest pork consumer, has forbidden direct or indirect imports of both live pigs and of pork products from Mexico and from the three U.S. states of Texas, Kansas, and California with the intent to prevent the swine flu virus from spreading to the country, according to a joint statement issued by the Agriculture Ministry and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Monday.

The statement, which took effect upon its announcement, also said that pork products sent by mail or personally carried by travelers are also prohibited.

A number of countries, including Russia, Thailand and Ecuador, have banned or restricted pork imports in spite of assurances from authorities such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization that the swine flu cannot be transmitted through food, but only from person to person.

Though the E.U., Australia, and the top buyer of U.S. pork, Japan, have not issued bans, the pork industry is concerned about the effect the bans will have on trade.

(China Knowledge)

Air China Drops on Concern Over Swine Flu

April 27 -- Air China Ltd., Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Qantas Airways Ltd. led declines by Asia-Pacific carriers on concern a growing number of swine-flu cases in the U.S. and Mexico may damp travel.

Air China, the world’s largest carrier by market value, sank as much as 11 percent to HK$3.57 in Hong Kong trading and changed hands at HK$3.59 as of 11:15 a.m. Singapore Air, Asia’s most profitable carrier, fell 4.7 percent to S$10.10 in the city-state. Sydney-based Qantas, Australia’s largest carrier, dropped 4.8 percent to A$1.885.

Airlines, already struggling amid the global recession, face further declines in travel because of the deadly swine-flu outbreak in Mexico and the U.S. Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. have told employees to avoid travel to Mexico, while the U.S. has declared a public-health emergency.

“Swine flu poses a risk to global airlines as discretionary travel gets cut back even more,” said Ben Potter, a Melbourne-based analyst at IG Markets. “Customers look to avoid possible contact with infected persons and there’s the possibility governments may urge a cutback in flights to help control the spread.”

Singapore has tightened checks at its main airport to screen arriving passengers against the flu outbreak, while authorities in Japan will examine flights from Mexico, where the flu was first detected.

Economic Consequences

The disease has killed more than 80 people in Mexico, and 20 in the U.S. have contracted it. The number is likely to rise, Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a White House briefing yesterday.

Japan Airlines Corp., Asia’s largest carrier by sales, fell 2.5 percent to 194 yen, while Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s biggest, tumbled 5.2 percent to 38,700 won. The airlines said separately they will monitor the situation in Mexico.

“Travel gets impacted rather quickly and savagely during virus outbreaks,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage the equivalent of about $800 million at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney. “The market clearly believes that the swine-flu outbreak will have economic consequences.”

The Bloomberg Asia Pacific Airlines Index, which tracks the region’s largest carriers, sank 4.4 percent on concern that the outbreak may be similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which killed almost 800 people globally six years ago.

Reminded of SARS

“This swine flu reminds investors of the SARS outbreak in 2003,” said Jack Xu, an analyst of Sinopac Securities Asia Ltd. in Shanghai. “It will curb air traffic on both domestic and international routes. Cutting travel is a basic precautionary measure when people face the threat of flu outbreak.”

Yamaha Motor Co., the world’s second-largest motorcycle maker, has asked employees to refrain from traveling to Mexico, while Hino Motors Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, has decided to postpone business trips to the Latin American country.

Panasonic, the world’s largest maker of consumer electronics, and Sharp ordered employees to avoid travel to the country. Sony Corp., the world’s second-biggest consumer- electronics maker, told workers to avoid Mexico City, while Hitachi Ltd. recalled Japanese staff based in the country.

(Bloomberg)