Dengue fever is a tropical disease spread by mosquito bites.A Hong Kong woman has been infected by the mosquito-borne dengue virus. She is reportedly the third case in Hong Kong this year.
The 40-year-old woman, who lives in Mid-Levels, had an underlying illness and developed fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea symptoms on August 27.
She was admitted at Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai on August 29 and was in stable condition throughout her treatment. She was discharged on Tuesday.
A blood test confirmed she had been infected by the dengue virus. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main carrier of the dengue virus.
The Centre for Health Protection said the woman did not travel abroad recently and classified the case as local.
Her home is located about 600 metres west of the Zoological and Botanical Gardens on Albany Road. The two previous local infections this year confirmed on August 6 and 29 involved people living on nearby Caine Road and Shelley Street respectively.
During the incubation period of her infection, the woman was said to have visited Graham Street market almost daily using the Central-Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system.
People living with her did not show any symptoms.
The centre is to conduct a site visit and field investigations at her residential estate to look for active cases and arrange blood tests.
To date, 87 dengue cases have been confirmed in Hong Kong this year, with 84 originating overseas.
In the meantime, another Mosquito-borne disease, Zika virus infection, had the first case discovered in the city last month. The Zika was found in an expatriate woman who travelled to the Caribbean last month. The woman was discharged from United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong fully recovered on August 26.
The Centre for Health Protection called on people with dengue symptoms who had passed through or been near Conduit Road, Central-Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system, Shelley Street, the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, and Graham Street market to call its hotline at 2125 2266. The hotline operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm.