Saturday, May 16, 2009

Japan confirms first domestic A/H1NA flu case, Malaysia confirms 2nd new flu patient

2009-05-16 23:39:28

HONG KONG, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan confirmed on Saturday its first domestic case of Influenza A/H1N1, while Malaysia confirmed a Malaysian women was infected with the new flu, the second in the country.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on Saturday a 17-year-old male high school student in Kobe city, Hyogo Prefecture, who has no record of overseas travel, was confirmed to be infected with the H1N1 strain of influenza A virus.

The student's family members have shown no sign of symptoms of A/H1N1 flu infection.

It is the first confirmed case in the country after four patients were found infected at an airport after returning from the United States on May 8.

Two other senior high school students from the city -- one male and one female also with no record of overseas travel -- have also tested positive for the new flu in local laboratory tests, the Kobe municipal government said.

The government's health watchdog is analyzing the specimens taken from them at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo.

Malaysian Health Ministry's deputy director-general Ramlee Rahmat said on Saturday that a second Malaysian has been confirmed to be infected with the A /H1N1 flu virus at the Penang Hospital in northern Penang state.

The patient, a woman, was admitted to the Penang Hospital on Friday and the results were confirmed on Saturday morning, he said.

She was a friend of the first patient who was confirmed with the virus at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in central Selangor state on Friday, Ramlee said.

She was on the same flight with the first confirmed patient, a 21-year-old male student, who flew on Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 from New Jersey, the United States, to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) via Stockholm in Sweden.

Ramlee said the woman's family, as well as two other friends of the two infected, were put under home quarantine.

Both of them are now in stable condition, he said.

Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon announced on Saturday there were 28 people in Australia awaiting test results for A/H1N1flu.

"We do currently have a number of people, including a family, who have tested positive to influenza A," Roxon told reporters in Melbourne.

"We're likely to have the results of those (tests) either late tonight or first thing tomorrow morning," Australian Associated Press quoted the minister as saying.

In Singapore, the Health Ministry announced on Saturday that home quarantine order (HQO) was lifted for travelers to Singapore with a recent Mexican travel history.

The ministry said that it has reviewed the imposition of the HQO in light of new information on the Influenza A/H1N1 outbreak situation.

"The outbreak in Mexico appears to be cooling off with a fall in the number of new confirmed cases. The number of exported cases from Mexico has also fallen significantly," it said.

But the ministry said that HQO will still be issued to any person who is a known or suspected close contact of a probable or confirmed case of Influenza A/H1N1, adding that the country will continue with temperature screening for passengers entering Singapore at all land, sea and air checkpoints.

There are currently no Influenza A/H1N1 cases reported in Singapore.

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