HK man contracts pig-borne disease, reveals Health Department
Updated at 7.21pm: A 26-year-old Hong Kong man had contracted the pig-borne disease which has killed 27 people in China?s Sichuan province, the Health Department confirmed on Thursday.
A spokesman for the department?s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the man had now recovered from the streptococcus suis infection. He had spent a week in Kwong Wah Hospital.
The man had developed symptoms of fever as well as pains in his ankles and hips. He was discharged from hospital on July 12.
The spokesman said the 26-year-old, who lives in Tin Shui Wai, had not visited local farms or had any contact with pigs. He also had no recent travel history.
His infection brings the total number of streptococcus suis cases since May 2004 to 10 in Hong Kong.
In the mainland, health authorities have announced they would suspend exports of meat ? including pork, lamb and beef ? from Sichuan province to Hong Kong from Thursday.
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok said mainland authorities imposed the ban because of Hong Kong people?s fears. The ban would last until the disease was controlled, he said.
Dr Chow also said the government had sent health officers to Sichuan to investigate the epidemic.
The Ministry of Health said that by Wednesday, 131 people had contracted the streptocosscus suis in Ziyang and Neijiang cities in Sichuan.
