MU student first swine flu case on mainland China

BEIJING – A student who was recently studying at MU has been confirmed as the first case of swine flu on mainland China. The student, who left Missouri on Thursday, is in stable condition, and more than 60 passengers from his flight have been placed in quarantine.

The 30-year-old student, surnamed Bao, tested positive for Type A H1N1 influenza, said an official with China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The official refused to give his name in accordance with standard practice.

MU officials have confirmed that the student left campus Thursday and said they are working with campus and public health professionals to investigate the case and determine if any action is necessary, according to an MU news release.

Susan Even, the director of the MU Student Health Center, recommended that people practice good hand hygiene, avoid people with compromised immune systems and crowds and only seek medical attention as symptoms warrant.

"At this time, as we've observed the H1N1 influenza in this country, the illness does not appear to be any more serious than the seasonal flu," she said in the news release.

But, Chinese officials are keeping a close eye on Bao.

He flew from St. Louis on Thursday, stopping in Minnesota, Tokyo and Beijing before reaching his final destination – Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province, the health ministry said.

On the last flight, Bao started experiencing symptoms that included a fever, sore throat, cough and a runny nose. He went straight to a hospital for treatment upon arrival and was diagnosed as a suspected Type A H1N1 influenza case, the health ministry said.

Bao was tested twice and found to be "weakly positive" for swine flu, after which he was transferred to the city's specially-equipped infectious disease hospital.

Sixty-three of the 150 passengers from the flight from Beijing to Chengdu have been located and placed in quarantine, the Chengdu municipal government said in a news release. CCTV reported the number in quarantine had risen to 84, while the official Xinhua News Agency gave the figure of 130.

Authorities sent text messages to mobile phones nationwide Monday afternoon asking people aboard Northwest Airlines flight NW029 from Tokyo to Beijing on May 8 and Sichuan Airlines flight 3U8882 from Beijing to Chengdu on May 9 to report to the Beijing disease prevention bureau.

People who came into close contact with him during his medical examination have also been put under medical surveillance, the release said.

China has been accused in the past of not acting quickly enough to combat the spread of diseases, especially the 2003 global outbreak of SARS. Chastened by that experience and subsequent threats from avian flu, the government this time has acted quickly and decisively to block an outbreak, but some of its measures have been criticized as excessive.

The swine flu-prevention measures include bans on imports of pork from Mexico, some U.S. states and Alberta in Canada. Beijing has also canceled the only direct flights between China and Mexico, a twice-weekly service by Aeromexico. Authorities require arriving travelers with flu-like symptoms to report themselves and have placed some travelers under weeklong quarantines.

China's tough measures have drawn complaints from Mexico that their citizens were being quarantined based merely on their nationality. Mexico's government on Sunday called China's treatment of its citizens unacceptable and pulled out of a Shanghai trade fair in protest of China's anti-swine flu measures.

China has defended the steps as necessary to block swine flu from entering the world's most populous nation. The Chinese territory of Hong Kong earlier reported a case of swine flu diagnosed in a 25-year-old Mexican who flew to the city via Shanghai.