A case of Japanese encephalitis (JE) was confirmed by Hong Kong Department of Health on Tuesday, which is the second JE case reported in the city this year.

A spokesman for the Center for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said that a 15-year-old boy, living in Kwai Chung in the New Territories, developed fever, headache, vomiting and neck rigidity on Aug. 13 and was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 15. He has recovered and was discharged on Aug. 24.

Results of laboratory tests on his blood samples available on Tuesday yielded a positive result for JE, a viral disease transmitted by the bite of infective mosquitoes.

The spokesman urged the public to take preventive measures against mosquito-transmitted diseases following the case.

The patient joined a tour to Guizhou Province in southwest China from July 23 to 29. CHP is contacting his travel companions. His three home contacts have not shown any symptoms of JE so far and have been put under medical surveillance. Further investigation is in progress.

There was one imported case in 2001, two imported cases in 2002, one local case in 2003 and five local cases in 2004 in Hong Kong. One local and one imported case were reported in 2005 and none in 2006.

The spokesman said JE is transmitted by Culex tritaeniorhychus (Culicine mosquitoes) which breed mainly in water-logged fields, marshes, ditches and small stable collections of water around cultivated fields. The mosquito becomes infected after biting pigs and wild birds infected with the JE virus.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2007)