A seven-year-old boy who developed flu symptoms after a recent visit to Japan has been quarantined at National Taiwan University Hospital for observation, a Taipei City health official said yesterday.
The boy was first taken to the Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital’s Taipei Branch on Sunday after developing a high fever, runny nose and cough, said Chiu Wen-hsiang (邱文祥), director of the city’s Department of Health.
Later that day he was referred to National Taiwan University Hospital for quarantine amid concerns that he could have contracted swine flu, or the A(H1N1) virus, during a visit to Japan last week.
Meanwhile, a young Japanese woman from Osaka was quarantined at Taoyuan General Hospital yesterday after she was found to have a high fever upon arrival at Taoyuan International Airport.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) personnel examined the woman, who had a fever of more than 38°C, and then took her to the hospital for quarantine and observation.
Officials said the Central Epidemic Command Center had been alerted about both cases and preventive measures would be taken immediately if the tests confirmed the boy or the woman had the A(H1N1) flu strain.
To date, there have been no cases of swine flu in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, 19 Taiwan-bound passengers who arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday aboard a Cathay Pacific-American Airlines codeshare flight (CX 831/AA 6091) have been urged to contact heath officials after Hong Kong authorities confirmed on Sunday that another passenger on the flight had swine flu.
Hong Kong officials said a 23-year-old Chinese university student from Guangdong on the flight, which left New York on Friday, was intercepted at the airport after thermal testing showed he had a fever. He was taken from the airport to a hospital and initial tests were positive for the H1N1 flu strain.
Thomas Tsang (曾浩輝), controller at Hong Kong’s Center for Health Protection, told reporters on Sunday that the student sat in the 60th row of the plane and travelers sitting in the 57th to 63rd rows on the same flight should contact health officials.
“The 19 [Taiwan-bound] passengers should call health authorities at 1922 as soon as possible because there is a possibility that they could have been exposed to the A(H1N1) influenza virus,” said Shih Wen-yi (施文儀), spokesman for the Central Epidemic Command Center.
Twenty-four passengers and seven crew members from the flight have been quarantined in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Undersecretary for Food and Health Gabriel Leung (梁卓偉) told reporters yesterday.
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