Hong Kong is facing another health alert after officials revealed last night that plasma imported in 1994 had come from a donor who died of Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD), the human variant of mad cow disease.
Although health chiefs launched an urgent recall, doctors stressed the shelf life of the 450 vials of plasma would normally be six months and it was unlikely affected patients could ever be traced.
The batch - Protenate 5%, Batch: 2836C415AA - was manufactured by Baxter Healthcare Corp of the United States and imported to Hong Kong in September 1994.
It was sold only to private doctors, clinics and hospitals - none went to the Hospital Authority.
The Department of Health learned from the pharmaceutical manufacturer through the Internet yesterday that the vials had come from a donor who died later of CJD.
Hong Kong Medical Association representative Dr So Kai-ming doubted the plasma recipients could be traced years after the drug was used.