More people with measles have been discovered in Hong Kong with three more cases reported over the weekend, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 20.
On Saturday, a 41-year-old Cathay Pacific pilot and an 11-month-old toddler were confirmed with measles after the Centre for Health Protection reported on Friday night that three workers at Hong Kong International Airport had been infected, Sing Tao Daily reported.
Of the 20 cases, five aviation staff members were infected. The Centre for Health Protection had set up a post since Saturday at the airport to provide measles vaccinations to non-immune people working there. As of noon on Sunday, 163 airport staff received measles vaccination at the post.
According to government information, the British pilot developed a fever and rash on March 12. He sought medical advice at North Lantau Hospital on March 21 and was transferred and admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on the same day.
The patient reported to have received a measles vaccination and had no contact with measles patients during the incubation period. He worked for the same airline as an earlier measles case announced on March 15, but did not report direct contact with that person.
He traveled to Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines during the incubation and communicable periods. The 11-year-old month baby girl developed a fever on March 16 and rash on March 19 before testing positive to measles. She traveled to Taiwan during the incubation period.
The latest case reported on Sunday involved a 27-year-old man who had been to Japan during the incubation period. The man had not been in contact with any measles patients and had previously been vaccinated.
Wong Ka-hing, the CHP’s controller, said the number of confirmed cases had exceeded last year’s total of 15. Among them, nine were imported cases, mainly from the Philippines. He expected more cases to emerge in the near future, news website HK01.com.
Meanwhile, the Health Bureau in Macau reported two new measles cases, including a 30-year-old migrant worker from the Philippines who worked for a bakery and a 30 local woman who were nurses at Kiang Wu Hospital, the Macao Daily News reported.
A doctor of Kiang Wu Hospital who had contacted a measles patient had tested positive for measles virus last week.