H7N9 bird flu leads to second death in Hong Kong

A second person has died in the city after being infected with H7N9 bird flu.

The 65-year-old Hong Kong man died yesterday in Queen Mary Hospital. He was the third person in Hong Kong to have become infected with the virus since last month. All are believed to have contracted the disease in Shenzhen. The most recent victim had travelled to the Luohu district on January 1 and returned to Hong Kong the next day.

It was the third death this year from H7N9. A 75-year-old Zhejiang woman died on Saturday and a middle-aged Guangdong man died last Monday.

The development came amid news that nine other people had died after contracting more common strands of flu this year. During the winter peak period, 25 people, including two children, required intensive care.

The Centre for Health Protection yesterday disclosed a fourfold increase in the number of people being infected.

Urging vigilance, centre director Dr Leung Ting-hung said H1N1 swine flu was the dominant virus strain circulating in the city, but influenza A sub-type H3N2 was becoming more common. Last week, the centre received reports of 490 flu infections, almost four times the 130 cases a week it recorded at the end of December.