A two-month-old Shenzhen girl confirmed to have been infected with H9N2 bird flu in Hong Kong lives near a restaurant which keeps chickens, indicating the possible source of her infection. The Centre for Health Protection announced the news yesterday, citing the preliminary investigation by health authorities in Guangdong. The girl was still being kept in isolation in Tuen Mun Hospital yesterday, and was in a stable condition. The centre said the baby's parents had tested negative for H9N2 and no one who had been in close contact with her in Hong Kong had shown symptoms. These include 15 babies being treated in the same cubicle of her ward at Tuen Mun Hospital, and 100 health care workers. The Shenzhen health authorities said they were told about the bird flu case by Hong Kong on Tuesday. But Shenzhen said there had been no other reported cases of H9N2 and there was no need to raise the alert. However, nine people who had close contact with the baby - her grandmother and staff at three hospitals - were immediately placed under medical surveillance. The baby, who was born in Hong Kong, lives with her parents and grandmother in Shenzhen, where she was believed to have contracted the disease. She was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on December 22 with an upper respiratory infection though she did not have a fever. She was discharged a day later and returned to Shenzhen before being readmitted on Monday after a doctor in Shenzhen found she had poor appetite and a low blood count, unrelated to the flu. The girl is now being treated for suspected leukaemia. It was the fifth infection of H9N2 flu in Hong Kong since 1999. All those infected recovered. Shenzhen said four restaurant employees who handled live poultry near the girl's home had been found to be healthy after blood and saliva tests. The Shenzhen health watchdog said it had disinfected the girl's home and three hospitals that treated her between December 22 and 29. None of the hospitals diagnosed the girl as having bird flu. At least seven live poultry vendors from a street market in Nanshan district, where the girl is believed to have contracted bird flu, continued their business yesterday. Several hundred live chickens, ducks and pigeons were being kept in uncovered cages. A chicken vendor said she was not aware that a human bird flu case had been reported and no health watchdog staff had inspected the market in the past few days. Her business had not been affected and she sold more than 20 chickens to New Year revellers yesterday. Many people buying poultry had brought their babies with them. The World Health Organisation says human cases of H9N2 have only been reported in Hong Kong, although it is known that the virus has been circulating in poultry in Asia since the 1990s.
