Press Release

Health advice as cholera case reported

August 9, 2001

The Department of Health (DH) today (August 9) reiterated that members of the public must clean and cook seafood thoroughly before eating, following notification of a confirmed cholera case.

A spokesman for DH said: "The patient is suspected to have contracted the disease through the consumption of raw seafood."

The case involved a 31-year-old woman living in Tseung Kwan O. She suffered from diarrhoea and was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on August 7. She is now in stable condition.

She had not travelled outside Hong Kong during the incubation period and the case was classified as a local one.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had disinfected the patient's home and inspected the food premises she had patronised.

The spokesman said: "The best way to prevent cholera and other food-borne diseases is to observe good food, personal and environmental hygiene at all times."

Members of the public should:

• Clean food, especially seafood and bivalves, thoroughly and ensure they are adequately cooked before consumption;
• Wash hands before eating and after going to toilets;
• Raw and cooked food should be handled with separate utensils;
• Keep raw and cooked food separately;
• Store food in refrigerator (at four degrees celcius or below) and adequately reheat leftover food before consumption; and
• Keep the environment clean.

To-date 16 confirmed cholera cases were reported in Hong Kong this (2001) year. Of these, one was an imported case reported in May.