NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been released from quarantine in Shanghai following a swine flu scare, his office said Wednesday.
Nagin, who was detained Sunday after a fellow passenger on his flight fell ill with a suspected case of swine flu, missed several meetings in the Chinese business hub due to the quarantine, spokesman James Ross told AFP.
He will not, however, have to miss two speaking engagements in Australia on Thursday and Friday.
"On behalf of my family and the citizens of New Orleans, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the medical officials in Shanghai, Shanghai officials, the US Embassy and others for prioritizing the health and safety of myself, my wife, Mrs. Nagin, and the city's law enforcement officer," Nagin said in a statement.
"We are departing Shanghai today in the best of health and spirits."
Nagin was originally scheduled to leave Shanghai on Tuesday night. He is scheduled to appear with the mayor of Sydney on Thursday and give a speech on climate change at the University of Sydney on Friday.
China has submitted passengers to temperature checks and at times quarantine at its airports in a bid to stop the spread of swine flu. Those placed under quarantine have usually been released after a seven-day observation period.
The country's strict flu control measures have faced foreign criticism.
On Tuesday, Chinese health authorities announced that mainland had more than 100 confirmed cases of the A(H1N1) swine flu virus.
China confirmed its first case of the illness -- which has killed 139 people in six countries -- on May 11, but it has so far recorded no deaths.
According to the latest data by the World Health Organization, 73 countries have reported a total of 25,288 cases.
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