CHI: China reports first suspected mainland swine flu case
11 May 2009 2:10 AM
BEIJING, May 10 AFP - China on Sunday announced the first suspected case of swine flu on the mainland -- a man in southwestern Sichuan province recently returned from the United States, state media reported.
The 30-year-old had just arrived in the Sichuan capital of Chengdu after returning from the United States via Tokyo on Saturday afternoon, the Xinhua news agency said, citing the Ministry of Health.
The man, surnamed Bao, had travelled on Northwest Airlines flight NW029 from Tokyo and arrived at Beijing International Airport before flying on to Chengdu on a connecting flight, it said.
He was found to have a fever in a Sichuan hospital and was diagnosed in preliminary tests to have A(H1N1), as swine flu is officially known, Xinhua said.
China on Thursday defended the strict swine flu measures it has taken, arguing they were necessary to stop the virus spreading through Asia and to avoid "catastrophic consequences" in the world's most populous nation.
