JINAN, East China, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Three handball players from the 11th Chinese National Games tested positive for A/H1N1 virus as early as last Thursday and an outbreak of the influenza could not be ruled out, the local organizing committee told a press conference Monday.

    The three are from Anhui Province, but a total of 31 handball players from both Anhui and Hebei teams have been quarantined as they arrived in Weihai City, where the competition is held, on the same bus.

    "Now the temperatures of the three have dropped to normal," the deputy secretary of the local organizing committee, Zou Jifeng, said.

    Anhui and Hebei handball teams were scheduled for the opening match of the event on Sunday. However, it was canceled due to the incident.

    "Three people were found higher temperatures with some influenza symptoms in routine temperature checks when both teams arrived at the hotel on the same bus last Thursday," Zou said.

    "The samples were sent for test immediately and were confirmed A/H1N1 positive at 10:20 p.m. that night. Members of the two teams have been quarantined since then," he said.

    The health administration did not report the incident immediately as it was a usual practice to report only on Monday, a health department official of the organizing committee, Kang Yongjun, said.

    The organizing committee introduced strict measures to prevent the outbreak of the influenza.

    A total of 134,000 people related to the Games, including volunteers, had been vaccinated against the virus before the Oct. 1National Day holiday.

    Yet an outbreak of the influenza cannot be ruled out. "It is an influenza season," Kang said.

    The handball players will be quarantined until 11 p.m. on 22nd, during the time all the matches against them will be canceled and their opponents take the winnings, Zou said.

    It is still unclear if the two teams can compete for the rest of the matches. "It will be decided on the medical observations during these days," He said.

    Earlier this month, the Health Ministry warned possible serious and even fatal cases of the A/H1N1 virus as weather cooled and people returned to work after an eight-day-long National Day holiday.

    The first death from the disease was reported when an 18-year-old woman in Maizhokunggar County, in Tibet's Lhasa City, died on Oct. 4. The second death was reported after a 43-year-old woman, in Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, died at about 2:41 p.m. Oct. 16.

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