A 59-year-old woman was in a serious condition last night after contracting the bird flu virus, the first confirmed case in Hong Kong for seven years. The government yesterday raised the city's bird flu alert level to 'serious'. Health officials have not been able to confirm whether the infection is a local or imported case. The woman, who lives in Tuen Mun, visited the mainland with her husband and daughter from October 23 to November 1 and developed a runny nose on November 2. She then developed a fever and started coughing on November 5. Her condition deteriorated and she was taken to Tuen Mun Hospital last Friday. She was admitted to the hospital on Sunday. The woman was later transferred to an isolation ward at Princess Margaret Hospital. The Centre for Health Protection and the University of Hong Kong laboratories confirmed yesterday that she was infected with the H5 strain of bird flu. During the mainland trip, the woman stayed at the home of relatives in Shanghai and also travelled to Nanjing and Hangzhou . She went to wet markets on the mainland, as well as the Yan Oi Market in Chi Lok Fa Yuen, Tuen Mun, after her return. Secretary for Food and Health Dr York Chow Yat-ngok said raising the alert level to 'serious' meant there was a risk of contracting bird flu in the region. Medical investigators are trying to determine whether the patient was infected in Hong Kong or on the mainland. 'The incubation period can be up to two weeks,' Chow said. 'Although the patient spent the majority of her time on the mainland, she still spent a day in Hong Kong before the onset of symptoms. So far, there is no sign of human-to-human transmission.' He will chair an interdepartmental meeting today to decide if any precautionary measures are needed. The Centres of Disease Control and Prevention in Shanghai and Zhejiang said last night they had no knowledge about the Hong Kong case and there was no report of a bird flu outbreak in the region. The Ministry of Health issued a statement last night saying it had informed the agricultural and quarantine departments. It instructed the health bureaus in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to keep the disease under surveillance. Controller of the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection Dr Thomas Tsang Ho-fai said his team would compare the woman's flu strains with those found on the mainland and Hong Kong previously to try to determine where she contracted the virus. The centre is monitoring the health of those who have been in close physical contact woman, such as family members and patients who shared the ward with her. So far, no one else has shown any symptoms. University of Hong Kong micro- biologist Ho Pak-leung said it was likely to be an imported case and would pose little threat. 'It has been a while since the woman developed symptoms and none of her family members got infected. The chance of her other contacts getting an infection is very slim,' he said. The government conducted a cleaning operation at Tuen Mun wet market yesterday. In 1997 the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus infected 18 people in Hong Kong, killing six. The last confirmed case was reported in 2003 and involved a Sha Tin family.
