Beijing: Four students visiting China from
the United Kingdom have been diagnosed with swine flu, and 52
of their classmates and teachers have been quarantined, the
British Embassy said on Saturday.
The sick students have been hospitalized while the others
were under quarantine in a hotel, the embassy said in a
statement. The group was in China for language and cultural
immersion courses, it said.
It did not give any other details on the cases but said
it was trying to establish contact with the students' schools.
One student from another group of 362 students and
teachers on a similar course organized by the British Council
was quarantined for two days this week, the embassy said.
Screening on arrival showed that the student had a raised
temperature a key symptom of infection by the H1N1 virus but
the student from the second group was released when no illness
developed, it said.
China's Health Ministry said yesterday that 1,537 cases
of swine flu had been reported. None has been fatal.
Beijing has been accused in the past of not acting
quickly enough to combat the spread of diseases, especially
the 2003 global outbreak of SARS.
Chastened by that experience and subsequent threats from
bird flu, the government this time has acted quickly and
decisively to block an outbreak.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, July 18, 2009, 19:06