Man who caught fever does not have avian flu: hospital
Updated at 7.13pm: A 31-year-old man - who claimed he had developed a fever after contact with poultry in China a few days ago - was hospitalised in Hong Kong on Sunday, a spokesman for the North District Hospital confirmed on Monday.
But the spokesman said the man did not have the bird-flu (H5N1) virus.
There have been a number of cases of avian flu virus reported in China in recent months. This has sparked fears in Hong Kong that avian flu could return to the territory - where it killed six people in 1998.
The hospital spokesman said on Monday afternoon that test results for the man's naso-pharyngeal secretions were confirmed to be negative for H5N1.
The patient was now being treated under isolation and was in 'stable condition'.
The Centre for Health Protection has said flu cases have increased - signalling that Hong Kong is entering the summer flu season.
'The number of cases has been rising since the week ending June 3 with 60 cases per 1,000 consultations compared with 54.9 the previous week. There are also slightly more respiratory outbreaks reported to us in the past two weeks,' a CHP spokesman said.
'With regard to this early sign, the Centre for Health Protection will keep a closer look on the influenza surveillance systems in coming weeks.'
Earlier this month, 18 Hong Kong people - 11 men and seven women who were reported to be suffering from pneumonia after visiting Guangdong and Hubei - were being tested for H5N1.
Health authorities have been implementing enhanced surveillance - such as banning mainland chicken imports for three weeks. This follows Beijing's recent confirmation that a man in Shenzhen was critically ill with the H5N1 flu.
Since late 2003, more than 120 people have died of bird flu around the world, the majority in Asia.
