Via the South China Morning Post: Man, 86, may have picked up H9N2 bird flu at Shenzhen market. Excerpt:
Mainland health officials believe the Shenzhen-based Hong Kong man infected with H9N2 bird flu is likely to have contracted the virus at a market that he visited every day.
But the live poultry stall at the wet market near where the 86-year-old patient lived was open again yesterday after briefly closing for disinfection.
He Hianfeng of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong said yesterday that the man visited the market every day although he did not come into contact with live poultry.
The man was in a stable condition yesterday under isolation in Princess Margaret Hospital.
An infectious diseases expert warned, meanwhile, that without more stringent controls on mainland chickens, more Hongkongers were likely to be infected with the H9N2, H7N9 and H10N8 bird flu strains.
"Three different strains of bird flu appear to be spreading from birds to humans this year. It shows that the virus has been very active," University of Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said.
"Since there is a large number of live poultry on the mainland, the chance of cross-infection will increase too, and there may be a higher chance of it spreading to humans."
