# 8136
As expected, Hong Kong’s CHP has posted an update on this morning’s latest H7N9 case (see China: Guangdong Province Announces 9th H7N9 Case) from neighboring Shenzhen.
While none of this patient’s close contacts has tested positive for the virus, samples are being tested from a four-year-old girl and her 37-year-old mother who had contact with the patient on December 31st, and who are currently in isolation at Princess Margaret Hospital after the mother reported a sore throat last night.
Here are some excerpts from the CHP notification.
7 January 2014
CHP notified by Guangdong HFPC of additional human case of avian influenza A(H7N9)
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) was notified by the Health and Family Planning Commission (HFPC) of Guangdong Province today (January 7) of an additional human case of avian influenza A(H7N9) affecting a man aged 31.
The patient, who lives in Shenzhen, had onset of symptoms on December 30, 2013 and was admitted to a local hospital on January 3. His specimen tested positive for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province today. He had no recent history of contact with poultry and is currently in stable condition. His thirty-five close contacts in Shenzhen have been put under medical surveillance with their specimens all tested negative for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus by the relevant health authority of Guangdong Province.
Investigation by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province also revealed that the patient had another close contact who is a four-year-old girl living in Hong Kong. The girl and her 37-year-old mother travelled to Shenzhen between December 26, 2013 and January 6, 2014. The girl had close contact with that patient on December 30, 2013.
Upon receipt of the notification from Guangdong HFPC, the CHP commenced contact tracing immediately and located the duo today. Preliminary investigation by the CHP showed that the girl has been asymptomatic all along while her mother developed sore throat last night (January 6).
The pair has been admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital for isolation and their respiratory specimens will be taken for preliminary laboratory testing by the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the CHP.
To date, a total of 149 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland. They are in Zhejiang (52 cases), Shanghai (34 cases), Jiangsu (28 cases), Guangdong (nine cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Fujian (five cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases) and Hebei (one case).
The CHP will follow up with the Mainland health authorities for more case details.
