A seven-year-old boy in Hong Kong has been infected with H9 bird flu, adding to the health woes in a city already fearing a wider outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.
The Centre for Health Protection on Friday confirmed that the boy’s nasal swab tested positive for the strain of avian flu, with the subtype still to be determined. The boy had recently returned to the city from mainland China.
The centre said the boy had underlying illnesses and developed a cough and runny nose on Tuesday, which turned to a fever on Wednesday.
He went for treatment at the outpatient ward at the Wang Tau Hom Jockey Club Clinic and was transferred to an isolation ward at Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for further medical care.
He was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital’s isolation ward on Thursday, where his condition was stable.
According to the centre’s preliminary investigations, the patient had visited his grandparents’ home in Shenzhen at the incubation stage of his viral infection.
Although the family kept poultry in their house, the boy had not come into direct contact with the birds. His family members have not reported any symptoms.
A Department of Health spokesman said investigations were under way and the relevant medical staff at the clinic, ambulance and hospitals, as well as any possibly affected patients, had been placed under medical observation.
H9 is a seasonal influenza that is required by law to be reported to the city’s health authorities. Hong Kong has in total recorded eight H9N2 infections, the most recent an imported case in 2013. The virus is a relatively mild type of avian flu and no local deaths have been recorded.
Hong Kong is also battling a strain of coronavirus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei province. The flu-like virus – contracted by 31,500 people worldwide, mostly in the province – has infected 26 people in the city, killing one.
Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan, a private specialist in infectious disease, said he believed the boy was an isolated case.
“If we see similar cases … or many local birds dying of unknown causes, then that would warrant further concern,” Tsang said.
