A 74-year-old woman with chronic illness who lived in Sham Shui Po died on October 8 after contracting melioidosis, the Centre for Health Protection said. Her case was Hong Kong’s ninth recorded this year, among cases reported for the week from October 9 to 15.
She developed a fever and cough with phlegm on October 4. On October 7, she went to the emergency department at Caritas Medical Centre with shortness of breath and was admitted. Her clinical diagnosis was pneumonia, and a sample tested positive for the bacterium that causes melioidosis.
The Centre is investigating the source of the infection. Its initial assessment was that the case was sporadic, with no epidemiological link identified to earlier local cases. The cause of death is also under investigation.
The Centre said the bacteria can survive in the local environment and that melioidosis is endemic in Hong Kong. It advised older people and those with chronic illness to maintain personal and environmental hygiene, and to avoid contact with soil or muddy water after typhoons or heavy rain.