17 quarantined as Hong Kong on H7N9 watch

HONG KONG – Seventeen close contacts of the Indonesian woman involved in Hong Kong’s first confirmed H7N9 case, have tested negative for the virus, but will be quarantined for 10 days.

Dr Ko Wing-man, Secretary for Food & Health, said the 17 include the Indonesian domestic helper’s employers, family members in the household, patients in the hospital ward where she had been initially confined, and a 33-year-old Indonesian friend who travelled with her to Shenzhen, China.
The 36-year-old helper is receiving intensive care at Queen Mary Hospital and her condition remains critical, Dr Ko said.

More than 200 people that the Centre for Health Protection have been identified to have had contact with the infected helper, but only the 17 close contacts will be sent to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung for isolation. They will remain under medical surveillance for 10 days, which is the incubation period for bird flu virus.

A dedicated page has been set up to educate the public on preventing avian influenza. Authorities urged people to enhance their personal hygiene, even as they said the risk of human-to-human transmission of the H7N9 virus remains low.

The government said it will continue to monitor developments and step up infection control measures at hospitals, live poultry stalls in markets, poultry farms, and boundary checkpoints to China, where the virus has killed 45 people.

Related news: Human H7N9 case confirmed in Hong Kong