First case of domestic swine flu in China confirmed

In an earlier statement, the ministry had identified the patient as a 24-year-old woman in the southern province of Guangdong who had been in close contact with a confirmed carrier of the A(H1N1) virus.

The woman works as a make-up artist at a photo studio in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, and came into contact with the confirmed case when he and his girlfriend had wedding photos taken Monday and Tuesday, it said.

On Wednesday, she developed a headache and a fever, and after she was hospitalised, Guangzhou health officials identified her as a suspected swine flu case before confirming it.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) sought Friday to reassure the public, saying there was “no cause for alarm.”

“We must be mindful as we still do not understand how this will unfold,” Hans Troedsson, the WHO's China representative, said in a statement emailed to AFP.

“At the moment, most of the confirmed cases in China are linked to travel. We don't have any evidence of sustained community transmission.”

The health ministry said the virus carrier the woman came into contact with was a 28-year-old Chinese-American man employed at a hospital in New York, who had flown to Guangzhou Sunday.

The ministry said other people who had come into close contact with him were still under observation.

Two other suspect cases in Shenzhen, a city near Hong Kong, had also been confirmed, the health ministry said.

The WHO, in its most recent report, said 13,398 people in 48 countries had been infected with the A(H1N1) virus since it was first uncovered last month. There have been 95 deaths.

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