On 23 January 2015, the Department of Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region notified WHO of 1 additional laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.
The patient is a 79-year-old male who developed symptoms on 19 January and consulted a private doctor on the same day. He attended the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital on 22 January. Then, the patient was transferred to the Hospital Authority Infectious Disease Centre in Princess Margaret Hospital for further management and isolation. He has been in stable condition all along.
Based on information available thus far, it is considered that the patient was infected outside Hong Kong. Initial epidemiological investigations revealed that he travelled to Zhangmutou, Dongguan, Guangdong on 5 January. During his travels, the patient visited a wet market with live poultry stalls but had no direct contact with poultry. He returned to Hong Kong on 19 January.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) is tracing the contacts of the patient. So far, no positive cases have been detected. The investigation is ongoing.
WHO continues to closely monitor the H7N9 situation and conduct risk assessment. So far, the overall risk associated with the H7N9 virus has not changed.