The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (July 11) investigating a confirmed imported case of cholera, and again appealed to the public for good personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel.
 
     The female patient, aged 25 with good past health, travelled to Malaysia from June 30 to July 3 and developed diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting since July 3. She was admitted to Union Hospital on July 8 and was discharged on July 10.
 
     Her stool specimen today yielded toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype Ogawa upon testing by the CHP's Public Health Laboratory Services Branch.
 
     The patient was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital today for isolation and management. She has been in a stable condition all along.
 
     Initial enquiries revealed that the patient had no travel collaterals in her recent trip and her home contacts remained asymptomatic. The CHP's investigations are ongoing.

     "Most cholera patients have gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea or vomiting. Some patients with severe symptoms present with a sudden onset of profuse diarrhoea with rice-water-like and fishy smelling stools, nausea and vomiting. Without prompt treatment, these patients may die from severe dehydration," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     Cholera is usually contracted through consumption of food or water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae. Human-to-human transmission rarely happens.

     The CHP advised the public to observe good personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel:
 

• Wash hands properly with liquid soap and water before eating or handling food, after going to the toilet or changing diapers, and after handling garbage;
• Avoid handling food when having symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea;
• Purchase food from hygienic and reliable sources. Do not patronise illegal hawkers;
• Handle raw, cooked and ready-to-eat food with separate utensils and store them separately;
• Ensure thorough cooking of food before consumption;
• Discard any spoilt food;
• Clean the refrigerator regularly. Maintain the fridge at or below 4 degrees Celsius and the freezer at or below -18 degrees C;
• Maintain proper sanitary facilities and drainage systems; and
• Clean and disinfect toilets used by an infected person and the soiled areas.

     In addition, travellers to cholera-affected areas should:
 

• Cook food and boil water thoroughly before consumption. Do not patronise illegal hawkers. Avoid eating cold dishes like salads. Wash and peel fruit by yourself. Do not use ice for beverages. If water cannot be boiled, treat water with chlorine or iodine before consumption; and
• Travellers returning from affected areas should consult a doctor promptly if symptoms develop. Reveal the travel history and maintain good personal, food and environmental hygiene.

     The public may visit the CHP's cholera page for more information.

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Priscilla Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, in the Legislative Council today (July 11):
 
Question:
    
     Kai Tak Development (KTD) is a large-scale project encompassing the ex-airport site together with the adjoining three districts of Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong, spanning a total planning area of over 320 hectares. KTD features a mix of community, housing, business, tourism and infrastructural uses. With the intake of the residential flats and the commissioning of the public facilities within KTD one after another, the traffic flow within the area has been increasing. Quite a number of Kai Tak residents and the operator of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal have relayed to me recently the slow progress of the development of the roads and transport systems connecting the facilities within the area (e.g. the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and the forthcoming Hong Kong Children's Hospital). For example, the target completion date of the detailed feasibility study for the Environmentally Friendly Linkage System (EFLS) for Kowloon East has been postponed from the original third quarter of 2017 to this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the latest progress of the road development within KTD and the specific timetable;
 
(2) of the latest progress of EFLS and the relevant timetable;
 
(3) whether it will allocate additional manpower and resources to expedite the construction of the roads and transport systems within KTD; if so, of the details; and
 
(4) whether the Government will introduce environmentally friendly modes of transport (e.g. eco-buses or eco-minibuses) as a temporary transport measure before the commissioning of the EFLS; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     To tie in with the implementation of the Kai Tak Development (KTD), the Government has been taking forward the planning, design and construction of various public works and infrastructure projects in phases to cope with the new population intake and various developments in the district with a view to realising the planning theme of transforming the KTD into a heritage, green, sports and tourism hub. Besides, we are also conducting a detailed feasibility study (DFS) for the Environmentally Friendly Linkage System (EFLS) for Kowloon East to explore the feasibility of extending the EFLS from the KTD to Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong to provide transport connection within Kowloon East.
 
     Our responses to the four parts of the question are as follows:
 
(1) Infrastructure works for the KTD are being implemented in stages according to their priorities to tie in with the development pace of the area. The progress of road developments associated with the KTD infrastructure projects is set out below:

     Infrastructure projects (with major road works) completed include:
 

  
     Infrastructure projects (with major road works) now under construction include:
 

  
     Apart from that, we separately consulted the Legislative Council Panel on Transport and the Panel on Development in June this year on relevant infrastructure projects including Trunk Road T2 of Route 6, Road D3 (Metro Park Section) connecting the former north apron and runway, as well as Road L10 connecting Shing Cheong Road and the Central Kowloon Route. We plan to seek support from the Public Works Subcommittee and funding approval from the Finance Committee in the next legislative session.
 
     The remaining KTD's infrastructure works are under active planning and design to dovetail with the development pace and growth of traffic demand of the areas concerned.
 
(2) As diverse views had been received regarding the most suitable mode of green transport (GT) for the EFLS for Kowloon East and its alignment, additional time was taken to carry out the detailed feasibility study (DFS) in two stages, with the first stage identifying the most suitable GT modes by assessing various options on equal basis. We have completed an interim public consultation under the first stage of the DFS for the EFLS for Kowloon East. We are now proceeding with the second stage study, which is to explore the EFLS scheme, including its network coverage, alignment and station locations, and conducting associated technical assessments to ascertain its feasibility. The study is targeted for completion in 2018. The way forward for the EFLS project will be considered upon the completion of the DFS.
 
(3) The Government has set up the Kai Tak Office under the Civil Engineering and Development Department to lead, oversee and coordinate the implementation of the KTD. We will keep in view the staff resources required and when necessary, seek approval from the Legislative Council for additional resources for the completion of road works in various stages of the KTD.
 
(4) With regard to public transport services, the KTD is currently served by eight franchised bus routes and two green minibus (GMB) routes. A number of en-route bus and GMB routes in the area along Prince Edward Road East are also available to the KTD residents who wish to reach different destinations. To tie in with the development pace and the public transport needs of the KTD, the Transport Department (TD) has proposed in its Bus Route Planning Programme 2017-2018 the introduction of three new franchised bus routes to strengthen the public transport links between the KTD and other districts. The two bus routes running between Muk Ning Street in Kai Tak and Tai Kok Tsui (Island Harbourview) and between Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and Kowloon Tong (Festival Walk) have commenced operation, while the bus route running between Shing Tak Street in Kowloon City and Sai Wan Ho (Grand Promenade) via the KTD is expected to operate in mid-2018. On railway services, the Shatin to Central Link is under construction. The Tai Wai to Hung Hom section (including the Kai Tak and Sung Wong Toi stations) is expected to complete and commission in mid-2019. The TD will continue to closely monitor the development progress of the KTD, and adjust or strengthen different public transport services to meet the public demand for transport services in the area.    
 
     Meanwhile, the Government has been encouraging public transport operators to introduce and deploy more advanced models of environment friendly vehicles to operate public transport services. The Government is currently fully subsidising franchised bus companies to purchase 36 single-deck electric buses for a two-year trial on different routes to assess their operational performance in actual conditions, among which four supercapacitor buses will be deployed to run the circular route 5M between Tak Long Estate in Kai Tak and Kowloon Bay Railway Station. According to the current progress, it is expected that the supercapacitor buses will commence service in phases from the second half of 2018.

     The Transport Department today (July 11) signed with Autotoll Limited a contract for a sum of $217 million which mainly comprises the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of approximately 550 traffic detectors on selected strategic routes, the associated data communication system, and a central computer system for collection, processing and dissemination of traffic data, and operation and maintenance services for the completed facilities. 
     â€‹
     The awarding of the contract marks an important milestone in the smart mobility development in Hong Kong. Installation of traffic detectors on all strategic routes to provide real-time traffic information is one of the smart mobility initiatives in the Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint. The initiative is implemented in two phases. This contract belongs to the first phase installation. Funding approval for the second phase installation was obtained from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council on June 30, and applications for its tender will be invited in the second half of this year.
 
       After completion of both phases of installation works, all strategic routes will be equipped with traffic detectors, which will enhance the efficiency of traffic and incident management, and enable more real-time traffic data and information to be provided for public use.
 
       Under this contract, traffic detectors will be installed to increase the coverage of strategic routes with traffic detectors from the existing 45 per cent to 80 per cent. The works is scheduled for completion by end of 2020.

  

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (July 11) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of low-pathogenic H7N7 avian influenza in Val-d'Oise Department in France, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from the department with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong imported about 2 000 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and 420 000 poultry eggs from France in the first three months of this year.

    "The CFS has contacted the French authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     Regarding an earlier announcement on a cluster of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) carriers in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the spokesperson for Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) made the following update today (July 11):
 
     In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital has performed enhanced surveillance and one more 13-day-old baby boy was confirmed today (July 11) as an MRSA carrier without clinical symptoms. The baby is still hospitalised under medical surveillance and isolation and is in a stable condition.
 
     The hospital will continue with the enhanced infection control measures and closely monitor the situation of the ward. The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.