Hong Kong steps up mosquito control measures after chikungunya fever case found
Estate residents ramp up precautions against mosquitoes while authorities set more traps and strengthen disinfection, among other measures
Hong Kong authorities have strengthened mosquito control measures at a hospital and the neighbourhood where the city’s first imported case of chikungunya fever since 2019 was reported, with residents also taking extra steps.
The Housing Authority and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department stepped up anti-mosquito efforts at Kwun Tong’s On Tat Estate and United Christian Hospital over the weekend.
The measures include setting up more traps, applying larvicidal oil in breeding spots, clearing stagnant water and grass near drainage holes, strengthening disinfection and conducting outreach efforts to remind residents to clean water from flower pots.
On Sunday afternoon, four workers were seen clearing clogged drains in a park at the estate, while another employee pumped mosquito repellent oil into every drain around a nearby building. A mosquito trap was also placed near a playground.
Authorities confirmed that a 12-year-old boy living in the public housing estate had contracted chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease behind outbreaks in neighbouring Guangdong province.
“The mosquito infestation index in the area is relatively stable, but it is showing an upwards trend,” Hsu Yau-wai, a district councillor whose office is in the estate, said on Sunday.