Taiwanese authorities are monitoring hundreds of people who may have had contact with a mainland Chinese tourist infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu.  Officials say as many as 500 people might have had contact with him.

The 86-year-old male tourist is from the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu.  He’s in stable condition in hospital, according to Taiwan health officials.  Anyone who might have had contact with the elderly patient is being asked to report to doctors should they develop possible symptoms

Of the larger groups, there are 149 people who may have had close contact with him.  Two of them are family members, his daughters, who were accompanying him on the eight-day tour.  Others include the tour guide, bus driver, medical personnel, and patients sharing the same hospital ward.

Meanwhile, an 80-year-old man infected with H7N9 Avian Flu died in Hong Kong.  It’s first H7N9 death in the city since the virus emerged there last month.  He had been taken to hospital after returning to Hong Kong from the neighboring city of Shenzhen in mainland China, where he lived.