A USB flash drive storing the personal information of 665 patients has gone missing from a clinic in Hong Kong, followed shortly afterward by the revelation of a separate but similar case involving 25 patients, local media reported over the weekend.

The suspected theft happened at the Tuen Mun Child Assessment Center on April 21 and involved the records of 665 patients. It was discovered when a medical officer who had left the USB flash drive in her unlocked office returned to find the device missing, the South China Morning Post reported.

The officer searched for the missing device until after office hours and alerted her supervisor.

The supervisor reported it to the police.

The officer involved had thought the USB flash drive contained the information of only few patients at first. But it turned out to involve 665 when she checked her computer on Wednesday. The Department of Health informed the patients about the missing information thereafter and called a press conference to offer an apology.

The data included patients' names and addresses, their photos, parents' names, phone numbers and medical records, said Gloria Tam, the city's deputy director of health.

"No suspected abuse of the data has been discovered so far. The affected families should remain alert and report to the police if they are approached by suspicious people," Tam said on Thursday afternoon.

Shortly afterwards on Thursday night, the Hospital Authority revealed that the United Christian Hospital last October lost a USB drive used for storing data on 26 patients.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2008)