South China's Guangdong Province reported one suspected A/H1N1 flu case late Saturday.

The case involved a 23-year-old Chinese Venezuelan. The female college student left Venezuela Tuesday and flied to Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital, Wednesday via Paris, and her relative drove her home in Foshan City, the provincial health department said.

She took a rest at home after showing flu symptoms Thursday and was sent to Foshan No.1 People's Hospital Friday.

Early Saturday, the woman was tested positive for A/H1N1 flu by the Foshan Center of Disease Control and Prevention. The Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention reexamined Saturday noon and the result was also positive. The case needs further testing.

China Saturday reported three new influenza A/H1N1 cases, bringing to 24 the total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland.

The one in the southeastern province of Fujian involved a local who studied in Canada. The other two in Beijing involved a Chinese American and a Chinese student who studied in the United States.

All the cases but one on the mainland were found shortly after they came from countries hard hit by the A/H1N1 flu epidemic. Seven were in Beijing, four in Shanghai, six in Guangdong, three in Fujian, and one each in Sichuan, Shandong, Zhejiang and Hunan.

Eight cases have been discharged from hospital by Saturday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

China raised vigilance against influenza A/H1N1 Friday after a patient in southern Guangdong Province was declared the first case of local transmission on the mainland. Medical experts are investigating into and analyzing the local transmission.

The patient, a 24-year-old woman living in Guangdong's capital city of Guangzhou, was believed to be infected by a man from New York on Monday. Guangdong provincial department of health confirmed both as A/H1N1 flu cases Friday noon.

Her flu symptoms have eased, Yin Zhibiao, deputy president of the Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital, said Saturday. But as the mainland's first case of local transmission, she would likely stay longer in hospital, Yin added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2009)