Another case of Streptococcus suis infection was reported in
Hong Kong yesterday, according to the special administrative
region's Center for Health Protection, bringing its total number of
cases this year to nine.
The 44-year-old man, a butcher at Huikang Supermarket in Tunmen
District, was hospitalized on August 12 with a fever and pain in
his right little finger and left thigh and is in a stable
condition, according to a government press release.
???
He had no recent history of travel outside Hong Kong, but did have
a finger injury that may have been the route of infection. The
people he lives with have reported no symptoms.
The supermarket involved has removed all pork from its shelves
and arranged health checks for its butchers, but the Center for
Health Protection said it suspected infected meat may have been
sold before the case was reported, and that other infections could
not be ruled out.
???
Streptococcus suis has been identified as the pathogen behind the
pig-borne epidemic in southwest China's Sichuan?Province
that, according to the most recent Ministry of Health report on
August 8, killed 39 people and infected 214 there since June
24.
Two cases have also been reported in the southern province of Guangdong,
which neighbors Hong Kong, since the beginning of the Sichuan
outbreak, though their cause has not been established.
The last case of infection reported in Hong Kong was of a
78-year-old woman admitted to hospital on August 8 and reported
last Thursday as being in a stable condition.
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn?August 17, 2005)