11 Feb 2009
In response to media enquiries, a spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said CHP received a report from Queen Mary Hospital today (February 11) about confirmed cases of invasive gastrointestinal mucormycosis due to rhizopus species.
The spokesman said the species could be found in the environment, food and wooden material.
He stressed that healthy people did not need to be worried of being infected as mucormycosis almost exclusively affected severely immunocompromised patients including people suffered from leukemia, lymphoma and chemotherapy.
He noted that CHP would closely liaise with the Hospital Authority to monitor the situation.
The spokesman said to prevent gastrointestinal mucormycosis, severely immunocompromised patients should strictly observe the following measures:
1) Follow doctors' advice on management of underlying disease;
2) Maintain good personal hygiene; and
3) Eat and drink only well cooked or boiled items as all strains can be killed at 80 degree Celsius after one minute.