Two more cases of measles were reported in Macau while Hong Kong recorded five new cases, bring the total number of cases to 25 and 30 respectively.
The Macau Health Bureau said the two new patients included a Filipina migrant worker recently returned from the Philippines and a nurse working in Kiang Wu Hospital, Macao Daily News reported.
The 27-year-old Filipina migrant worker reportedly worked in a restaurant, and had been in the Philippines from January 6 to March 15 before returning to Macau on March 16. She developed a fever and a cough on March 24 and tested positive for measles on March 26. She claimed that she had been vaccinated against measles.
The other new patient is a 23-year-old Macau man, said to be a nurse at Kiang Wu Hospital who visited Taipei with friends, visited a hospital there in early March and was confirmed to have measles on March 25.
In Hong Kong, five new cases have been logged, including three patients working at Hong Kong International Airport and two patients who had traveled overseas during the illness’ incubation period, according to a government release.
A 21-year-old woman working at an airport coffee shop, a 31-year-old male Airport Express employee and a 28-year-old male customs officer, none of whom traveled outside Hong Kong during the incubation period, all tested positive for the measles virus.
A 43-year-old man who had traveled to Okinawa, Japan and an 8-month-old baby boy who had visited Thailand were also confirmed to have measles.
The rapid rise of the measles cases in Hong Kong has aroused public concern, particularly among employers of domestic workers from the Philippines.
Specimens from 20 measles patients were genotyped and 14 of them were confirmed as of measles genotype B3, which has seen a large outbreak recently in the Philippines, according to an update on measles revealed by the Centre for Health Protection.
Sophia Chan, Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health, hopes that Filipino workers who are scheduled to fly back home on holiday might consider postponing their trips to a later date, Apple Daily reported.
Dr Ho Pak-leung, a top microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong suggested that the Hong Kong government demand that all new domestic workers should be vaccinated before they come to Hong Kong, Ming Pao Daily reported.