Hong Kong on Saturday recorded another chikungunya fever infection, bringing the total so far this year to 13.
Like the previous cases, the patient is believed to have caught the disease after being bitten by mosquitoes outside the SAR.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the latest patient is a 27-year-old woman in Sham Shui Po who had recently been to Foshan in Guangdong, which has seen a chikungunya outbreak.
She was said to be in a stable condition after being admitted to hospital on August 28.
“Although the number of new CF [chikungunya fever] cases in Foshan in Guangdong province has continued to decline over the past few weeks, members of the public should be aware that many countries worldwide have experienced CF outbreaks this year,” said CHP controller Edwin Tsui.
“As of July this year, over 240,000 cases had been reported in 16 countries/regions worldwide. Of these cases, about 90 were fatal. High temperatures and rainfall levels in summer continue to pose a risk of outbreaks of various mosquito-borne diseases in Hong Kong and around the world, and members of the public must remain vigilant.”
Tsui added that being as September 1 will be the first day of the new academic year, schools should follow official advice on anti-mosquito efforts and urge staff and pupils to take measures to protect themselves from being bitten.
Margarett Kazmierczak
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