- Joined
- Oct 2, 2013
- Messages
- 239
- Points
- 0
Elderly man first to die from new bird flu virus
Staff reporter
Friday, December 27, 2013
An elderly man infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu died yesterday, the first such death in the city since the virus emerged in the mainland early this year.
The 80-year-old man was the second reported case of H7N9 infection in Hong Kong, after a 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper was reported on December 2. She is in stable condition at Queen Mary Hospital.
A spokesman for Princess Margaret Hospital said the man died yesterday, but it was unclear from their statement if the man died as a result of H7N9 or some other condition. He reportedly suffered from diabetes and heart problems.
His quarantine was completed on December 17, with the hospital taking his nasal and phlegm samples, which all tested negative to H7N9.
The hospital has reported to the Centre for Health Protection and the Hospital Authority. A coroner's inquiry is expected, the spokesman added.
Associate professor Leo Poon Lit-man from the Hong Kong University's Centre of Influenza Research said deaths from H7N9 were expected and urged frontline workers have to stay alert to H7N9 to provide early treatment for suspected sufferers.
The elderly man, who lived in Shenzhen's Bao An district, was admitted to a hospital near his home on November 13 for management of a chronic illness and left the facility on November 29.
He arrived in Hong Kong on December 3 with family members and took a taxi to the Accident and Emergency Department of Tuen Mun Hospital.
He developed a fever on December 6 and was isolated. He tested positive for bird flu H7N9 later that day and was transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital. His family was said to have prepared live chicken in their Shenzhen home.
In all his time at Princess Margaret, his condition had been described as stable.
Hong Kong officials have stepped up border checks and traced hundreds who had been in contact with the two people infected.
