China confirmed on Sunday a fifth A/H1N1 patient infected through local transmission, bringing the total number of A/H1N1 cases to 73 on the mainland.

The latest confirmed case was an 18-year-old woman surnamed Li in the southwestern Sichuan Province, the Sichuan Health Department said on its website on Sunday.

She showed symptoms of fever and a cough on Saturday morning and tested positive for the virus in the disease control and prevention center of Chengdu, the provincial capital.

Her mother, a 40-year-old Chinese-American, who arrived in Chengdu on Tuesday from New York via Hong Kong, was confirmed to have the virus Saturday, the second such case in the province.

The girl accompanied her mother, surnamed Gao, to a tourist spot in the province from Wednesday to Friday.

So far, the mainland has reported five A/H1N1 cases via local transmission, including two in Fujian and two in Guangzhou.

The two Guangdong cases and one in Fujian have recovered and left hospital.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2009)