The domestic case was discovered yesterday in southern Guangdong province, where a woman contracted the infection. Authorities identified the patient as a 24-year-old female who is living in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong. It is believed that the woman had been in close contact with a confirmed carrier of the A (H1N1) virus.
A tale of two patients
According to the ministry, the woman, who works as a make-up artist at a wedding photography studio in Guangzhou, came into contact with the swine flu-infected man when he and his girlfriend spent two days, Monday and Tuesday, with her and other studio workers to have bridal photos.
The 28-year-old Chinese-American man, who works in a hospital in New York, flew from New York to Guangzhou on May 24, after a stopover in Incheon City in the Republic of Korea.
On Wednesday, the man fell ill and went to the hospital. On the same day, the beautician also developed a sore throat, headache and fever, and was sent to the hospital on Thursday where she tested positive to the A/H1N1 flu virus.
"Both patients are in a stable condition at present," the health ministry said, adding that other people who had come into close contact with the male patient were still under observation.
Chinese panic and the assurances
The new cases of swine flu have sparked panic among Chinese population, and it is speculated that the domestic case can raise the risk of epidemic in China, the world's most populated nation.
But Zeng Guang, a top epidemiology expert with the Chinese Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), assured the public not to worry about the domestic transmission of the virus.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also reassured the public Friday that there was "no cause for alarm".
"We must be mindful as we still do not understand how this will unfold," Hans Troedsson, the Geneva-based health agency’s China representative, said in a statement. "At the moment, most of the confirmed cases in China are linked to travel. We don't have any evidence of sustained community transmission."
Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the WHO's China office added: "We're certainly concerned. But it was just a matter of time considering what has happened in other countries. We still feel they need to keep up surveillance, and these cases show that surveillance works because they are picking up close contacts of early cases."
Meanwhile, two other suspect cases- a 22-year-old American male and his 21-year-old sister- in Shenzhen, a city near Hong Kong, have also been confirmed as A/H1N1 flu cases, the health ministry said.
Global tally of swine flu cases
According to WHO’s latest estimate, 15,510, people in 53 countries around the world have been infected with the A(H1N1) virus since it was first uncovered. The WHO report says 99 deaths have been linked to swine flu, mostly in Mexico.
As of Friday, 21 confirmed cases in China surfaced in eight provinces and municipalities: Six in Guangdong, five in Beijing, four in Shanghai, two in Fujian, and one each in Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. However, seven of infected people have recovered and were discharged from hospitals.
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