The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (July 19) investigating a suspected food poisoning case involving consumption of mushrooms.

     The case involves two males and three females aged 26 to 61, who developed abdominal pain, diarrhoea, dizziness, generalised weakness, limb numbness, nausea and vomiting about six hours after consuming mushrooms at a restaurant in Wong Tai Sin yesterday evening (July 18). Two of the patients sought medical attention at the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 19 and required hospitalisation. They are in stable condition.

     "Mushroom poisoning is generally acute. Common presentations include gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain appearing shortly after ingestion. Depending on the mushroom species, patients may also have other symptoms like profuse sweating, hallucination, coma or other neurological symptoms as well as liver failure. Death may result in severe cases," a CHP spokesman said.

     "We advise the public to buy mushrooms from reputable and reliable suppliers and not to buy mushroom products which may be mixed with unknown species. Members of the public should not pick wild mushrooms for consumption as it is difficult to distinguish edible mushroom species from inedible ones. Mixing of edible species with inedible or poisonous species of mushroom will not dilute toxicity. Cooking in most cases does not destroy toxicity," the spokesman added.

     â€‹â€‹â€‹"If mushroom poisoning is suspected, the patient should seek immediate medical attention and bring along any available remnant for identification," the spokesman said.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority today (July 19) announced information regarding patients who tested positive via admission screening or testing with patients or staff members identified as close contacts and nosocomial COVID-19 infection cases.
 
     The following are the statistics of patients who tested positive via admission screening or by testing in public hospitals with patients or staff members identified as close contacts:
 

 
     The following is the statistic of clusters of nosocomial infection cases in public hospitals:
 

 
     Thorough cleaning and disinfection operations have been performed in the affected areas by hospitals. The hospitals will continue to closely monitor the health condition of patients and staff members, and communicate with the Centre for Health Protection on the latest situation.

     The Task Force on Supplies from the Mainland led by the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) has been working closely with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to explore various means to stabilise the supply of goods from the Mainland to Hong Kong.
 
     A spokesperson for the TLB said that the "Sea Express" water transportation service from the Mainland to Hong Kong has been fully launched and its capacity is rising to increase the supplies of fresh food, other daily necessities and manufacturing materials. The current supply of fresh food from the Mainland is stable.
 
     The spokesperson said today (July 19) that Shenzhen operated 38 cargo vessel trips and transported around 3 640 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (July 18), equivalent to about 14 820 tonnes of goods, of which around 10 TEUs (about 90 tonnes) were fresh food and around 3 630 TEUs (about 14 730 tonnes) were non-fresh food, according to information from the Mainland authorities.
 
     Since the launch of services from the three ports in Shenzhen since February 18 to yesterday, a total of around 687 810 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 3 361 990 tonnes of goods, of which around 2 130 TEUs (about 18 200 tonnes) were fresh food and around 685 680 TEUs (about 3 343 790 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
 
     Meanwhile, to avoid a spillover of the epidemic, the Transport Department (TD) arranges for dedicated staff to conduct rapid nucleic acid tests, using nasopharyngeal swabs for specimen collection, for cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers at various land boundary control points. Only drivers with a negative result are allowed to enter the Mainland. A total of 3 838 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday, among which six cases that tested preliminarily positive or indeterminate were found. The TD has passed the cases to the Department of Health for follow-up.
 
     The TLB will closely monitor the situation and co-operate with the Mainland authorities to facilitate and implement various measures to ensure both smooth cross-boundary land transport and a stable goods supply to Hong Kong, while reducing the risk of epidemic transmission in both the Mainland and Hong Kong.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (July 19) urged the public not to consume a kind of cup noodles imported from Japan, because it was found with a pesticide, ethylene oxide. The trade should stop using or selling the product concerned immediately if they possess it.

     Product details are as follows:

Product name: Acecook premium golden salt ramen
Brand: Acecook
Place of origin: Japan
Net weight: 101 grams
Best-before date: September 9, 2022
Importer: Man Tung Trading Company Limited

     A spokesman for the CFS said, "The CFS earlier through its Food Incident Surveillance System noted a notification from the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration that the above-mentioned product was found with ethylene oxide at a level that is not complying with its local standard. Upon learning of the incident and according to the information provided by the Taiwanese authorities, the CFS immediately contacted local importers for follow-up. Preliminary investigation found that the above-mentioned importer had imported into Hong Kong the affected batch of the product concerned."

     Since ethylene oxide is not authorised by the European Union, for the sake of prudence, the above-mentioned importer has stopped selling and removed from shelves the affected batch of the product upon the CFS's instructions and has initiated a recall. Members of the public may call the importer's hotline at 2947 7038 during office hours for enquiries about the recall. 

     The spokesman urged the public not to consume the affected batch of the product if they have bought any. The trade should also stop using or selling the affected batch of the product concerned immediately if they possess it.

     The CFS will alert the trade to the incident, and will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. An investigation is ongoing.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 19) that Island East Swimming Pool in Eastern District has been temporarily closed for cleaning and superchlorination following the discovery of a small amount of vomit in the pool.

     It will be reopened at 6.30am tomorrow.

     The department appeals to swimmers to be considerate and to keep the swimming pools clean. They are advised not to swim after a full meal and should use the toilet facilities if necessary before swimming.