Twenty-four tourists from the United States have been quarantined in southwest China after having close contact with a confirmed A/H1N1 flu patient.

They were traveling as a group in Guizhou Province and were quarantined Monday. They had taken the same flight as Hong Kong's sixth confirmed A/H1N1 flu case, the provincial health administration said on Tuesday.

The group arrived in Hong Kong on Friday via flight UA869 from San Francisco and came to Guiyang, the provincial capital, on Saturday.

They were placed under medical observation in a hotel and were expected to leave on May 29 if they tested A/H1N1 negative, the administration said.

The local government has arranged staff to take care of them.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2009)