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Hong Kong: The spread of flu in Hong Kong appeared to be slowing with only one new outbreak reported, but attention yesterday shifted to fears of bird flu after dead chickens were found in southeast China.
Officials reported nine new flu outbreaks on Thursday, but on Friday only one new outbreak was reported at a home for the elderly.
The slowdown came after officials shut primary schools and kindergartens for two weeks after two children with flu - a 7-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl - died.
Both of them had other illnesses, and gene sequencing confirmed that they did not contract flu strains deadlier than the ones already circulating in the region.
The latest figures bring the total since March 6 to 19 confirmed outbreaks, 116 suspected ones and 880 affected people in a city of nearly 7 million. Most of the outbreaks occurred at schools.
But Chinese officials found dead chickens at markets in Guangzhou, southern China, a city that borders Hong Kong. It was not immediately clear if the chickens had bird flu nor how many had died.
Later, a Guangzhou Daily report posted on the Guangzhou government's website said 114 chicken were found dead at the market.
The World Health Organisation has called the situation a seasonal flu outbreak. At least 235 people have died worldwide from the virus since 2003.
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