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An inter-departmental working group meeting, convened by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), was held today (December 29) to look into the deaths of two local pig farmers who died of pneumonia-like illness in the past six months.
A package of new measures were mapped out by relevant Government departments and the Hospital Authority (HA) to enhance investigation, surveillance and risk communication with the community.
Consultant in Community Medicine of the CHP, Dr Thomas Tsang, said the present investigations so far showed that the family members of two deceased persons did not have any symptoms. Evidence collected by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) found no unusual deaths among local pigs in Hong Kong.
However, he said the Government will continue investigations at full strength and liaise closely with our Mainland counterparts in an effort to ascertain the nature of the illnesses.
New tests conducted by CHP on the two deceased patients revealed negative results for SARS.
䩕On the front of enhanced surveillance, CHP and HA will set up a new special arrangement which requires doctors to report pneumonia illness among hospitalized pig farmers and live pig handlers.蒅
䩕CHP will also send letter to doctors in Hong Kong asking them to report to CHP if they come across hospitalized patients with pneumonia who are pig farmers and live pig handlers.蒅
Today, the North District Hospital reported a pneumonia case admitted today in a 61-year-old male worker in Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. His condition is stable. Investigation has been initiated.
A special hotline 2125 1133 has been set up by CHP for pig farmers to report previous pneumonia hospitalization from June 1, 2006 onwards.
As of today, the hotline has received a total of seven calls. Six of them were for enquiry purpose. One call was from a 42-year-old male safety supervisor of Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse who reported to have been hospitalized in North District Hospital for pneumonia in mid-September. His illness responded to antibiotics. He recovered and was discharged from hospital in early November. The patient had no direct contact with pigs during work.
The hotline will be operated during the long holidays (December 30, 2006 through January 1, 2007) from 9 am to 1pm.
䩕These new measures will enhance surveillance of new cases that may happen in the prospective period,蒅 Dr Tsang noted.
Regarding investigation, AFCD will enhance the monitoring of local pig farms. Samples from pigs will be collected for screening of infectious agents. The Microbiology Department of the University of Hong Kong has kindly agreed to assist in the testing of these samples.
To enhance pig farmer and live pig handlers﷿ understanding of the situation, AFCD and CHP will organize a forum to update them on the situation and provide health advice as well as listen to their concerns.
On the follow-up of the death case involving the 62-year-old pig farmer who died in June 2006, Dr Tsang noted that CHP had contacted his family contacts and they did not show any symptoms of pneumonia.
Investigations also revealed that the deceased had traveled to Shenzhen about every 2 weeks. He had no reported history of contacting live pigs and animals. An association between the travel and his illness cannot be established at this moment. Further investigation is proceeding.
Today﷿s inter-departmental meeting was attended by representatives of the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, CHP, HA, AFCD, and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.
Ends/Friday, December 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:30
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