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Mary Ann Benitez

The global pneumonia outbreak is believed to have originated with a sickly Guangdong doctor who stayed in a Hong Kong hotel and infected six other people, health officials said last night.

Among those infected by the doctor was a Hong Kong man, 26, who became the so-called index patient for the Prince of Wales Hospital outbreak of atypical pneumonia that is responsible for infecting most of the 150 people in hospital so far.

The doctor, 64, from Guangzhou, and a Canadian woman, 78, staying on the same floor of the Metropole Hotel in Waterloo Road, Mongkok, later died of the infection. The man died in the Kwong Wah Hospital and the woman in Toronto.

The ninth floor of the Metropole where the seven infected guests stayed was sealed off yesterday. Last night, some guests checked out hurriedly as news of the outbreak spread.

The doctor checked into the hotel on February 21 to attend a wedding reception but was taken to hospital the next day.

He began to show symptoms on February 15 while still in Guangzhou, the Director of Health, Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, said when detailing results of investigations last night.

He is believed to have spread atypical pneumonia when he sneezed and coughed in the waiting area outside the lifts on his floor.

'Not all the guests on the ninth floor were infected and not all the rooms. The only common link is the area where they waited for elevators,' she said.

Asked if the Guangdong man was the index patient for the outbreak, Dr Chan said: 'We believe this hypothesis is justified.

'Based on the information available to us from the hotel records and history and details of the illness . . . they could have been infected during their stay there. There is good evidence to suggest that,' she said.

The other five infected guests at the hotel - three women from Singapore, one other Canadian tourist, 72, and the 26-year-old local man, who went to the hotel to visit a friend -  survived.

The local man went on to become the index patient at the Prince Of Wales Hospital. The airport worker showed symptoms of the disease on February 24 but did not seek emergency treatment at the hospital until March 5, when he was admitted to ward 8A.

The Singaporean victims became ill after returning home but all are now well. About 17 other people in Singapore, including a doctor who treated them and who is now being treated in Germany after attending a New York conference, also have been affected.

The Canadian tourist is being treated at a private hospital in Hong Kong.

Of the situation at the Metropole, Dr Chan said: 'Our initial investigations show there is no outbreak of disease among the hotel staff.'

Staff, guests and nearby residents had no need to panic.

'We believe that the virus has already disappeared and we believe the time during which the virus can be spread is relatively short. There is no evidence that the virus is still active in this hotel,' Dr Chan said.

The Metropole has provided the department with staff medical records for the past month and information that would help trace guests.

A report on the findings about the hotel infections was being forwarded to the World Health Organisation (WHO) last night.

Dr Chan said she hoped the travel advisory put out by WHO on the global threat of the atypical pneumonia would be further refined in light of the latest findings.

She said their investigations supported the belief that the virus was being spread by droplets and by close contact. Its incubation period was two to seven days.

Metropole guests who stayed on the ninth floor during the critical period from February 21 to 22 were being traced and would be notified through their governments, Dr Chan said. 'We know these guests have returned home so we will inform the health authorities in various places so they can follow up,' Dr Chan said.

About 80 tourists could have stayed during that time.

The Department of Health has set up a hotline - 2961 8968 - to provide health advice and concerned guests can call 2761 1711.

The department has disinfected the ninth floor and will allow it to be re-opened after another inspection.



Guangdong doctor may have triggered pneumonia outbreak at Kowloon hotel