HK reports first cholera case for 2005

Updated at 5.24pm:
A 27-year-old woman who arrived in Hong Kong from Indonesia last week has contracted cholera, the Health Department confirmed on Friday.

A spokesman for the department's Centre for Health Protection said this was the first cholera case in Hong Kong this year. But the department has yet to classify her infection as an 'imported' or 'local case'.

The spokesman revealed that the woman lived in Indonesia and arrived in Hong Kong on June 15. She had developed diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting two days later.

She was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on Wednesday and was now in a stable condition. The virus she contracted was Vibrio cholerae 01 Ogawa, the spokesman said.

Cholera is an infection of the gastrointestinal tract. People usually contracted the disease by drinking unclean water or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish.

The disease could be fatal as it could lead to dehydration. Other symptoms include diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting.

Cholera ravaged southern China in the late 19th century and early 20th century resulting in the deaths hundreds of thousands of people.