Sunday, December 25, 2005

Officials zero in on source of typhoid

CHANDRA WONG


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Health officials have spotted a pattern in the typhoid outbreak in
Yuen Long, leading them to suspect one restaurant or food hawker is the
source.

Thomas Tsang Ho-fai, a consultant for the Centre for Health Protection,
said common bacterial DNA fingerprints were found among seven of the
nine patients who had fallen ill in the past 30 days.

Health officials would continue to look at how food was distributed in
the area, the extent of illegal hawking and which restaurants were
popular with young people. They would know more in the next three weeks
as test results from more than 200 samples were processed.

"This is not an infection on an extensive scale," Dr Tsang said.
"Patients were mostly under 20 and cases were localised in a radius of
1km around Tin Shui Wai and 500 metres around Long Ping Tsuen in Yuen
Long."

Twelve cases have been reported to the centre since November 25, with
nine in Yuen Long - including four children, aged nine to 12, from the
same family, one from Tuen Mun, one from Shamshuipo and another
imported case.

The disease's long incubation period means more cases are expected to
emerge in the next two weeks.

Thirty-six cases have been reported in the city this year, while the
figures for 2001 to 2004 were between 50 and 70, so the rate was not
alarming, Dr Tsang said.

Typhoid fever is usually contracted by consuming food or water
contaminated by the faeces or urine of carriers. Human-to-human
infection is rare.

The illness is usually marked by fever, tiredness, chills, headache and
generalised muscle and joint aches. Diarrhoea, constipation and
abdominal discomfort may also occur in serious cases.

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