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New Orleans mayor quarantined in China

By Sarim Ngo and Shan Juan in Beijing and Wang Hongyi in Shanghai (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-09 08:14

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's trip to China has suffered a setback as he, his wife Seletha and a bodyguard have been placed under quarantine at a hotel in Shanghai after a passenger on Nagin's flight showed symptoms of the A(H1N1) flu, the Shanghai municipal government confirmed Monday.

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Another passenger on the same flight was confirmed of suffering from the flu.

As of Monday, New Orleans' first couple and their security guard showed no symptoms of the flu although the mayor was said to have developed a fever earlier, an official from the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office told China Daily.

James Ross, deputy communication director of the mayor's press office, said Nagin left the US on Friday on a 10-day visit to China and Australia to discuss issues related with "economic development and climate change".

The mayor traveled to Shanghai in a bid to attract future investment to help the continual recovery of New Orleans, devastated by the 2005 Hurricane Katrina.

According to a press release from the City of New Orleans, he was supposed to meet with "four prospects interested in the possibility of locating their businesses in New Orleans".

However, Ross said Nagin only attended two meetings on Sunday before Chinese officials notified him of his quarantine. "He was informed around 4 pm while he was in his hotel room," said Ross.

The Mayor, his wife and their guard were moved into the Jinjing Inn, Lin'gang Xincheng branch, on Sunday as a precautionary measure.

They were sitting close to a passenger who showed influenza symptoms suspected to be the H1N1 subtype, Ross said.

Five other foreigners and 21 Chinese joined them at the hotel, said a staff member of Jinjiang Inn.

While Nagin is "feeling upbeat" and shows no signs of the virus, the number of days he will be in quarantine is still unknown, Ross said, adding that he was waiting to hear from the Chinese government.

Ross said Chinese officials have treated Nagin with "the outmost courtesy". Nagin and his wife have been allowed to stay in the same room together.

China has been criticized with being overly aggressive from keeping the virus from spreading among its population of 1.3 billion.

In Beijing, two medical workers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states were confirmed to have contracted the flu over the weekend, the Ministry of Health said.

The two patients arrived in Beijing for a two-day training session starting last Wednesday, on A(H1N1) flu epidemic prevention and control, hosted by the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

All of their close contacts, 11 from ASEAN countries and 16 Chinese, in Beijing are now under quarantine. Among them, three trainees also tested positive for the virus.

Ross said Nagin was scheduled to leave Shanghai today afternoon to deliver a keynote address and lead a panel discussion on climate change at the 2009 National Summit of the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney.