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Health officials said they would prioritise workers at Hong Kong International Airport for vaccinations amid a shortage of supply. Photo: Reuters

Another Hong Kong airport worker has measles, bringing number of cases this year to 32

  • City recorded only 15 cases of the illness in the whole of last year, but the first three months of 2019 alone have seen more than double that number

Another airport worker was on Friday confirmed to have contracted measles, raising the number of cases in Hong Kong this year to 32.

A dozen cases have been recorded among airport and airline staff alone, including a pilot, baggage handlers and security guards, as the government attempts to get to grips with the outbreak.

Health officials said they would prioritise workers at Hong Kong International Airport for vaccinations amid a shortage of supply.

The latest Hongkonger with the illness is a 49-year-old man of previous good health. The city’s Centre for Health Protection said he developed a cough on Sunday and rash on Wednesday, when he was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was said to be in a stable condition on Friday.

In the whole of last year the city recorded only 15 cases of measles. This year’s number consists of 19 men and 13 women, aged between eight months and 49 years old.

Blood tests to find out who really needs measles vaccine among Hong Kong International Airport workers

A member of staff at the airport wears a face mask amid an outbreak of measles. Photo: Dickson Lee

On Friday health workers carried out blood tests on 100 people to assess which were most in need of immunisation.

Pharmaceutical firms have distributed more than 30,000 doses of the vaccine to the private sector in the past week, and about 40,000 to the public sector.

Measles cases spike in Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines as anti-vaxxers take to social media

The government said it hoped another 40,000 would be delivered to Hong Kong between mid-April and June.

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