Hong Kong may enter its summer flu season earlier than usual this year, with a peak likely to occur later this month, health authorities have said, urging unvaccinated residents to receive jabs for protection. Dr Edwin Tsui Lok-kin, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said on Tuesday that influenza activity in the city had…
A poultry stall at a Hong Kong market has been disinfected after an environmental sample tested positive for the H9 bird flu virus, with shoppers remaining largely unfazed despite a recent infection involving a two-year-old boy. The affected stall, the only live poultry shop operating inside Sha Tin’s Wo Che Market, temporarily suspended operations on…
Hong Kong health authorities are seeking more information from the World Health Organization (WHO) on an outbreak of a deadly hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission reported on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, while ramping up efforts to prevent the rare disease from reaching the city’s shores. The Department of Health’s Centre for…
Hong Kong’s health authorities are investigating two food poisoning clusters linked to five people falling ill after eating raw oysters, with the city recording 27 cases in the first week of February alone. Officials also warned residents on Sunday against eating raw oysters and reminded them to maintain personal hygiene, as norovirus was more active…
Hong Kong’s health authorities have warned of a recent “drastic increase” in norovirus-related food poisoning incidents that are all related to raw oyster consumption, with 20 of them being recorded over the past 2½ weeks. The Centre for Health Protection said on Thursday that it had received 23 reports of food poisoning, involving 69 patients,…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Temperatures in many areas of Hong Kong dropped to single digits on Friday morning, with some reaching 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (35.6…
The emergence of a so-called “super flu” has gripped global headlines, prompting authorities in Hong Kong to urge residents to get vaccinated. Amid the spate of infections, a local research team also found that 99 per cent of residents lacked sufficient antibodies needed to protect themselves from the new strain. With many people travelling for…
Hong Kong health authorities have urged the public to get the latest Covid vaccine as the next wave of the virus is set to arrive. The Centre for Health Protection said on Friday active periods of Covid-19 came in cycles of every six to nine months. More than five months had passed since the last…
Health experts have dismissed concerns about a Hong Kong government-subsidised flu vaccine that does not have clinical trial data on pregnant women, saying the decades-long technology is safe and people with less confidence can turn to the private sector for shots. Authorities said on Tuesday that Hong Kong had entered the summer flu season, a…