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New flu infections up in Asia-Pacific region, outbreak feared

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  • New flu infections up in Asia-Pacific region, outbreak feared

    Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...t_11391708.htm

    New flu infections up in Asia-Pacific region, outbreak feared
    www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-18 01:51:08

    HONG KONG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of infection cases of influenza A/H1N1 in the Asia-Pacific region hit 121 on Sunday and the region is now facing the risk of grass-root outbreak.

    A total of 93 people in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, Japan, were confirmed Sunday to have been infected. The total number of the infection in Japan now stands at 97, including the first four cases contracted in North America.

    According to the latest confirmed cases of flu in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan 97, New Zealand 9, China 6 (3 cases in Hong Kong), South Korea 3, Malaysia 2, Thailand 2, Australia 1 and India 1.

    In Japan, the 93 newly confirmed domestic cases in Osaka and Hyogo, included high school students, college students, their family members and teachers, the health ministry and local governments said.

    All of the newly confirmed patients had no record of overseas travel.

    Meanwhile, a total of 143 students at the Kansai Okura Senior High School where many infections in Osaka were found, have shown symptoms of influenza since around Monday and are feared to be infected, according to local media reports.

    The privately run school said it will be closed from Monday through Saturday.

    More than 1,000 educational facilities -- kindergartens, and elementary, junior and senior high schools -- in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures have decided to suspend classes for certain periods following the confirmation of new flu infections in the prefectures, Kyodo News reported.

    Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto convened a meeting of a new flu task force on Sunday and decided to ask facilities such as movie theaters to suspend operations to prevent the spread of the flu.

    TV clips showed people in Kansai region started to wear masks in public spaces and rushed to drug stores for buying medicines.

    The Japanese government on Saturday shifted the stage of its new-flu action program from "a period of overseas outbreak" to "an early period of domestic outbreak" and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.

    The Kyodo News quoted Masato Tashiro, a member of the World Health Organization's emergency committee, as saying that several hundred people in Japan already may have been infected with the new flu.

    In China, one confirmed case of the epidemic was reported in Beijing, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday evening.

    It is the third confirmed case of A/H1N1 flu on Chinese mainland, according to the ministry.

    The case involved a 18-year-old Chinese student at a university in the New York State of the United States, and she is currently in stable condition with normal body temperature, the ministry said.

    Hong Kong medical authorities said Sunday a third case of A/H1N1 flu infection has been confirmed in the city.

    The confirmed patient, a 23-year-old male student studying in the United States, arrived in Hong Kong late Saturday aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX 831, said Thomas Tsang, controller of the Center for Health Protection (CHP).

    Hong Kong reported the first confirmed A/H1N1 flu case on May 1,which involved a 25-year-old Mexican man. It triggered higher flu alert level in Hong Kong and led to quarantine of hundreds including air passengers, hotel guests, among others. All those put in quarantine, including the patient, have been discharged.

    The second confirmed case surfaced on May 13, when a local resident traveling back from the United States tested positive for the virus.
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