China denies Fujian origin of swine flu

China Business View
April 30, 2009

The swine flu continued to get big coverage in today’s newspapers.

Yesterday, in response to the concerns raised over pig deaths in Changle and Fuqing, the Ministry of Agriculture denied that the virus originated in Fujian Province, where the two cities are located. Today’s Chinese Business View featured the news as its top headline, and reprinted a Xinhua story reporting on investigation that confirmed the death and abandonment of some piglets but ruled out the possibility that swine flu was the cause.

The Modern Express used the first reported case of the flu, Edgar Hernandez, a five-year-old from Mexico, as its cover photo. In a smaller headline, the paper reported that health authorities in Shenzhen have released lists of Chinese medicines that can help ward off the disease. According to the newspaper, panic over the flu has sent prices of some cold medicines up by 30% in some places.

The Beijing News reported that test results on all seven suspected cases in Hong Kong came back negative. In Beijing, all patients showing symptoms including fervor, cough, and diarrhea, will be tested and reported.

In news unrelated to the swine flu, a real estate developer named Zou Qing was sentenced to life in Beijing for obtaining 1.6 billion yuan worth of bank loans for fictitious home buyers.

And a Qing dynasty jade seal which was once used by Emperor Qianlong was auctioned for 1.38 million euros in Paris yesterday. The seal is thought to have been looted from the Old Summer Palace, but the agent in charge of the sale said that the French general who took the seal out of China was in Tianjin at the time of the palace’s destruction.