HK scrambled Thursday to contain any outbreak of bird flu, but the audience did abound on the city, people first recorded case of the disease since 2003, to reassure.

The government raised the alert level of the bird flu a “serious”, ie it is a “high risk” of the people infected, a potentially deadly disease, said Health Ministry spokesman told AFP.

Hong Kong recorded the last human case of bird flu in 2003 and was the world’s first outbreak in humans above died in 1997, when six people in a mutation of the virus, which is mostly limited to birds.

Millions of birds killed in the outbreak in 1997, a preview to kill on a large-scale panic, Hong Kong, where the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003 caused about 300 people were injured.

Social unrest in the city of seven million people last year with the outbreak of swine flu, which claimed at 80 lives.

59-year-old woman tested positive for influenza A (H5), a version of bird flu after being diagnosed with pneumonia, was said health officials. She was listed in critical condition, hospital isolation ward.

The woman recently visited the mainland cities of Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, but it was too early to say where and how is the disease, officials said.

trivializing Home Health of Hong Kong York Chow tries fears of an outbreak of avian influenza in densely populated cities.

“In general, we believe that the risk of bird flu (spread) of Hong Kong is much higher than before,” he told reporters.

However, Chen said the government increased its controls on the wholesale poultry markets and improved infection control in hospitals and clinics.

Visit isolation units of public hospitals are prohibited, except for humanitarian reasons, he said. All visitors are required to make masks and washing hands before the public hospitals.

Chow said there were no signs so far of human to human transmission case.

“I think we should first focus on the source of infection as the origin of birds,” he said earlier.

“But we are on people who were in contact with her if they had symptoms, even if he was in Hong Kong to concentrate.

“His arrest is likely, very likely that the continent, but can not be excluded … Hong Kong,” he added.

Leo by microbiologists, University of Hong Kong agree that in case of a single, rather than a serious threat to the city.

“At this time the threat is not too great … We believe that this is an isolated case,” he said, adding that the risk was a transmission of the virus from human to human very low.

Patient visits to China between 23 October and 1 November with her husband and her daughter, said the Ministry of Public Health Center for Health statement.

Her husband of 60 years suffered, even flu-like symptoms, but he recovered, he said.

Hong Kong is also closely linked to the mainland Chinese authorities are to monitor the situation, said the spokesman of the Centre.

Although they do not visit farms or from contact with live birds, visited food markets, was a preliminary study.

The woman was taken to hospital 14th November after complaining of persistent fever, coughing and spitting blood.