Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 12/3/13

Chinese health officials have confirmed the first case of H7N9 avian influenza contracted by a human near Hong Kong, just months after an outbreak of the deadly virus killed 45 people in eastern China, according to several reports.

Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man announced that a 36-year-old Indonesian domestic worker contracted the virus after coming into contact with poultry while traveling to Shenzhen, about 60 miles from Hong Kong, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Four members of the woman’s family have shown signs of H7N9 infection — which is not known to easily spread between humans — and all of them will be examined as soon as possible, officials said.

With the virus seemingly moving south among poultry in China, Hong Kong is now at a heightened “alert” status and plans are in the works to inspect local chicken farms to make sure infection control measures are in place, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. There were 139 H7N9 infections in humans in China as of Nov. 6 and 45 deaths since April, according to the World Health Organization.

The report of a human infection near Hong Kong comes one day after Chinese health officials launched plans for periodic temporary bans of live poultry trading over the next five years to stem avian flu transmission.

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