Passengers arriving in Hong Kong on flights from Russia face increased health checks. The Centre for Health Protection is also asking anyone who visited the Irkutsk region of Siberia in the 14 days before arrival to declare the trip to health staff at the airport.
The measures follow the death on 2 October of a laboratory employee in the Irkutsk region, who had developed severe pneumonia. The cause remains undetermined. The World Health Organization, relaying information from Russian authorities, said there was no evidence of sustained transmission, no other severe pneumonia cases linked to the incident, and no high-threat pathogen detected in tests on the employee’s contacts.
The Centre assessed the immediate public-health risk to Hong Kong as low.
At the airport, port health staff are monitoring temperatures at gates used by flights from Russia and assessing passengers with symptoms. Those assessed as having pneumonia symptoms will be referred to a public hospital for further testing. Doctors must also immediately report patients with unexplained pneumonia who visited the Irkutsk region of Siberia in the 14 days before becoming ill, so further tests can be arranged.
The Centre advises returning travellers who develop respiratory symptoms to wear a mask, seek medical care and tell their doctor about their travel history.