First Asian swine flu case confirmed

Hong Kong today confirmed Asia’s first case of swine flu.

The patient is a Mexican citizen who developed a fever after arriving via Shanghai yesterday.

Tests by both Hong Kong’s Department of Health and the University of Hong Kong confirmed the diagnosis.

The patient has been isolated in a hospital and is in stable condition.

Director of Health Lam Ping-yan has ordered the hotel in Hong Kong where the tourist stayed quarantined. TV footage showed police officers wearing masks and gloves locking down the hotel and a worker carrying boxes into the building labelled with the name of an antiviral drug.

While South Korea has reported three probable cases of swine flu, the Hong Kong case is the first confirmed case in Asia, where governments have been stepping up precautions to prevent its spread from other parts of the world.