China tests plane passenger for possible swine flu
Beijing - Chinese health officials are testing samples from a passenger who had a fever and other flu-like symptoms and after travelling on the same plane as a swine-flu infected Mexican man, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The unidentified passenger displayed the flu-like symptoms while quarantined along with 127 others in mainland China who had flown on the same AeroMexico plane from Mexico to Shanghai last week, the ministry said in a statement.
The statement did not say where the swine flu suspect remained quarantined but it said provincial health authorities were checking samples, apparently ruling out Beijing or Shanghai.
The other 127 passengers displayed no similar symptoms and were released from quarantine, it said.
China has so far reported no confirmed or probable cases of the A/H1N1 flu strain but the government has vowed to continue tough measures at Chinese borders to prevent the spread of the virus, which has hit Mexico the hardest and caused infections in countries including Canada and the United States.
The State Council, led by Premier Wen Jiabao, on Tuesday agreed to allocate 5 billion yuan (733 million dollars) from the central budget for swine flu prevention. (dpa)