Melioidosis broke out in Sham Shui Po District in recent months. At the beginning of the month, the authorities collected more than 200 environmental samples from the distribution reservoir in the district, and found that more than 90 samples were positive. However, no live samples were found in the 6 swab samples collected at or near the vent. bacteria. The authorities also said that so far no water samples have tested positive, emphasizing that there is no evidence linking the outbreak to the tap water supplied by the area’s service reservoir.
One more case of melioidosis was confirmed in Hong Kong yesterday. A 61-year-old man with diabetes living in Sham Shui Po was admitted to the hospital last week. He was clinically diagnosed with a lung infection. His sputum sample was confirmed to be positive for Burkholderia pseudomallei yesterday. A total of 37 cases of melioidosis have been reported in Hong Kong this year case.
More than 90 samples from two reservoirs were positive
Earlier, the CHP found that some samples were positive for melioidosis at the Sham Shui Po District Service Reservoir. The center and the HKU team went to the service reservoirs in the area to collect samples at the beginning of the month, and found that 87 soil samples from the Shek Kip Mei and Butterfly Valley service reservoirs were positive. The authorities also found that swab samples from five vents and one near the vent in the Shek Kip Mei Service Reservoir tested positive for nucleic acid, but these samples failed to “inoculate”, reflecting the absence of live bacteria. As for the water samples collected so far from the water body of the distribution reservoir and the patient’s home, the tests were all negative.
Ou Jiarong, chief doctor of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Center for Health Protection, admitted that the transmission route of the outbreak in Sham Shui Po District has not yet been confirmed, but there is no evidence that it is related to tap water. Yuan Guoyong, chair professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, who is in charge of the investigation, said that in the past few years, there were only 7.6 cases of melioidosis per year on average, but so far this year there have been 36 cases, describing this time as an outbreak. However, he said it was impossible to confirm at this stage how the bacteria spread.
Yuan Guoyong estimates that with global warming, the number of bacteria and cases will increase. As long as the cases are not clustered, there is no need to worry. The Water Supplies Department has increased the amount of residual chlorine in Hong Kong’s water supply areas, and installed filters at the vents of service reservoirs in Hong Kong to block bacteria-laden soil.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/Local/One more person diagnosed in Sham Shui Po – Melioid outbreak unknown/348484?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral
