HK's third case of rat-borne Hep E involves elderly in Kowloon City

The city has seen the third case of human infection of rat-related hepatitis E virus this year.

The patient frequented a restaurant in Ho Man Tin Plaza found to have signs of rat activity.

The 91-year-old male patient with chronic illness was admitted to the emergency room at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on September 16th after developing fever and weakness in limbs.

He was later confirmed to have come down with rat-associated hepatitis E and was discharged after six days of hospitalisation.

After investigations, the Centre for Health Protection says the man resides in a care home in Kowloon City and had not travelled out of the city during the incubation period.

The patient, care home workers and his family members say there were no signs of rat activity at the facility.

But the elderly patient dined at a teahouse in Ho Man Tin Plaza at least once or twice a week where CHP found to have poor hygiene with evidence of rat activity.

It is understood the eatery involved is Jasmine Cuisine, which remains open for business in the morning.

This woman says she saw mice there late last month which scared off a lot of patrons at the time.

The 91-year-old patient marks the city's third case of rat hepatitis E within four months.

Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Cheuk Wing-hing has coordinated cross-departmental efforts to combat rodent infestation after the administration took office.

According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the rodent-absence rate in Hong Kong in the first half of this year reached 96.4%, up 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.

Among all districts, Kowloon City District fared the worst at 92%.

In a phone interview, lawmaker Rebecca Chan, who chairs the Legislative Council's Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene Panel, says the rat-absence rate mainly relies on thermal imaging detection without rigorous calculation methods of mouse tallies.

She suggests the government establish clearer indicators and specify when rodent control efforts or inspections should be strengthened.