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17 passengers on flight from Mexico quarantined
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-02 21:40

BEIJING -- Seventeen people, who were on the same Mexico City-Shanghai flight with a Mexican national later diagnosed with influenza A(H1N1), are under quarantine, health authorities in the capital said Saturday.

17 passengers on flight from Mexico quarantined
Vice President and Spokesman of Beijing Ditan Hospital Cheng Jun speaks at a press conference in Beijing, May 2, 2009. [Xinhua]

None of the 17 have displayed any flu symptoms, the Beijing Health Bureau said.

The Mexican, a 25-year-old male, arrived in Shanghai Thursday aboard flight Aeromexico 098, which carried 176 people and 13 crew members.

Of the passengers, 56 disembarked in Shanghai, 41 caught a connecting flight to Guangzhou, 17 transferred to Beijing and the destination of two was unknown.

That accounts for 116 of the passengers, some of whom -- including the Mexican male -- flew on to Hong Kong, taking China Eastern Airlines flight MU505.

Of the 17 who flew to Beijing, two left the city for Hebei and Jiangsu provinces and were put into quarantine by local disease control and prevention centers.

The 15 whose final destination was Beijing were admitted by Beijing Ditan Hospital, Cheng Jun, deputy head of the hospital, told reporters Saturday.

The entire crew remained in Shanghai and were put into quarantine.

The Mexican male became Hong Kong's first confirmed case of influenza A(H1N1) infection Friday, prompting authorities to immediately raise the flu alert level from serious to the highest level of emergency.

The patient checked into the Metropark Hotel in Wanchai, Hong Kong, on Thursday afternoon and developed flu symptoms such as lethargy, cough and a sore throat in the evening. The diagnosis was confirmed at a hospital, and the patient was put into quarantine, where he remained in stable condition Saturday.

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