It is "highly possible" that the first domestic transmission of the A(H1N1) flu has happened in China, the Ministry of Health said last night.

A 22-year-old man in Shanghai is suspected of contracting the potentially deadly virus from a 30-year-old man surnamed Shu, who was the city's first confirmed flu victim.

"It is highly possible that the nation has its first A(H1N1) flu case through domestic transmission as there are more and more imported cases," said Zeng Guang, a top epidemiology expert with the Chinese Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).