Over 50 fall ill in acute gastroenteritis outbreak at Hong Kong Police College

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is investigating a cluster of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) at Hong Kong Police College in Wong Chuk Hang, as 53 individuals fell ill after consuming food in the training school.

As of noon today, the cluster involves 48 males and five females aged between 20 and 40. They developed symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever from the evening of March 5 onwards.

Among those affected, 33 individuals sought medical attention. All cases are mild, requiring no hospitalization and are currently in stable condition.

The CHP is investigating the cluster of AGE cases from multiple angles, including the possibility of transmission via contaminated food, environmental exposure or person-to-person contact.

Preliminary investigation indicated that all affected individuals are boarding students at the institute who had shared meals multiple times at the institute's food premises prior to falling ill. CHP said it cannot rule out the possibility that some patients may have contracted AGE from consuming contaminated food.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) officers visited the food premises concerned to investigate and inspect the handling processes and food hygiene, and collected samples for testing. As a precautionary measure, the officers of the Centre for Food Safety have also directed the food premises to thoroughly clean and disinfect the premises, and provided health education related to food safety and environmental hygiene to the staff of the premises.

CHP said it will continue its epidemiological investigation and collect stool samples from patients for laboratory testing to identify the pathogen of this outbreak.