Update | Elderly man latest to die in Hong Kong after contracting H7N9 bird flu
Man had long-term health problems and had been in Shenzhen, where samples of the virus have been found at wet markets
Hong Kong's death toll from the H7N9 strain of bird flu rose to three yesterday when the virus claimed the life a 75-year-old man who recently spent a week living near a poultry market in Shenzhen.
The fatality came as it was confirmed by mainland officials that a family of three - a father, mother and daughter - in Xiaoshan , Zhejiang province, had contracted the deadly virus. The 49-year-old father has died, the daughter, 23, is seriously ill and the mother is in a stable condition, provincial health officials said.
It also follows the cull of 20,000 chickens at the Cheung Sha Wan wholesale market after a sample batch tested positive for the virus, prompting a city-wide ban on the sale of live chickens.
Xinhua said mainland experts were not certain if human-to-human transmission was involved in the family contracting the virus because all three had been in close contact with poultry.
The total number of confirmed cases on the mainland this month had risen to at least 110 by Tuesday; 20 people have died.
There have been four cases in Hong Kong; three of the victims have died. The first, Indonesian domestic helper Tri Mawarti, was released from Tuen Mun Hospital earlier this month after receiving treatment.
The latest Hong Kong H7N9 victim suffered from unrelated long-term illnesses including hypertension and diabetes. Earlier this month, he had spent seven days in the Baoan district of Shenzhen living close to poultry stalls. He returned to Hong Kong on January 26 with mild flu symptoms but without a fever, which allowed him to avoid health detection at the border, said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre of Health Protection.
