Fourteen people were tested positive for the A/H1N1 influenza virus in Hong Kong on Thursday, bringing the number of confirmed cases of the disease in the city to 63, a spokesman for the Department of Health of Hong Kong said.
Eleven new cases came from the same class of the 16-year-old girl of St. Paul's Convent School who was confirmed to have infected with the A/H1N1 influenza virus on Wednesday.
Ten of the girls in the newly confirmed cases developed respiratory symptoms since June 6 while another developed diarrhea on June 10. They were taken to public hospitals for isolation on Wednesday.
The mother and the brother of the 16-year-old girl, as well as one student from the same class and one from another class with respiratory symptoms were tested negative.
The department's investigation showed that all students from the same class did not have recent travel history nor contacted people with respiratory symptoms from affected areas.
Among the 14 cases, three are imported ones. The first imported case involved a 43-year-old man who traveled to Europe since May 30, and returned to Hong Kong from London by taking a flight of British Airways (flight no. BA25) on June 10. He sat in row 36 and wore a face mask on the flight.
The second imported case involved a 16-year-old girl living in San Francisco, who arrived in Hong Kong with his parents by taking a flight of Singapore Airlines (flight no. SQ1) on June 11. She sat on row 49 and put on a face mask on the flight. Her parents are asymptomatic.
The third imported case involved a 20-year-old woman studying in Switzerland, who returned Hong Kong from Zurich by taking a flight of Swiss International Air Lines (flight no. LX138) on June7. She sat on row 23, next to a 19-year-old man who was confirmed to have infected with the A/H1N1 flu on June 8. Investigations into these cases are ongoing.
The Department of Health is now tracing passengers sitting in rows 33-36 of BA25 arrived in Hong Kong on June 10, and those sitting in rows 46-52 of SQ1 arrived in Hong Kong on June 11 and crew members who had served the affected section concerned as well as other close contact of the patients.
(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2009)
