CHP investigates measles case
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (August 18) is investigating a measles case and reminds members of the public that vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles.
The case involves a 35-year-old female who has developed a fever and cough since August 4. She further developed a rash on August 9 and attended the Accident and Emergency Department of United Christian Hospital on the same day. Hospitalisation is not required. She is currently in stable condition. Her clinical specimen was tested positive for the measles virus upon laboratory testing.
An epidemiological investigation revealed that the patient was not born in Hong Kong and she was uncertain whether she had received the measles vaccination in her birth place. She had a short outbound trip during the incubation period.
The patient did not need to go to work during the communicable period (August 5 to 13). Her household contacts are asymptomatic. The CHP has contacted the relevant hospital to identify any close contacts and high-risk individuals. As of 3pm today, a total 198 individuals have been identified as close contacts, and are put under the CHP's medical surveillance. All close contacts are asymptomatic so far.
The CHP will continue to investigate and follow up on the case.
This is the ninth measles case recorded in Hong Kong so far this year. The previous six cases were either imported or epidemiologically linked to these cases. There were two other local cases. In the past two years (2024 and 2025), 10 cases were recorded each year.
Measles outbreaks are currently occurring in many regions around the world. In recent years, North America (including the United States, Canada and Mexico) and Southeast Asia (including Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines) have seen persistent measles outbreaks due to low vaccination coverage. Over 2 500 cases have been recorded in the United States so far this year, exceeded the total number of cases last year. In Europe, the number of measles cases in the United Kingdom and Spain has increased this year, with 953 and 172 cases recorded respectively since January. In Asia, measles remains prevalent in the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia. Japan and Singapore have also seen a substantial rise in cases this year, with 550 and 45 cases recorded respectively, marking the highest record since 2019. Australia has reported 112 measles cases this year, which is also higher than the same period last year. Most of the overseas cases involved individuals who were not vaccinated against measles or had an unknown vaccination status, highlighting the importance of maintaining a high vaccination rate and herd immunity within the community.
As a city with a high volume of international travel, Hong Kong faces the potential risk of importation of the measles virus and its spread in the local community. The CHP's territory-wide immunisation surveys showed that under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, the two-dose measles vaccination coverage has consistently stayed above 95 per cent. The local seroprevalence rates of measles virus antibodies reflect that most people in Hong Kong are immune to measles. However, measles is highly contagious. A small number of people who have not completed measles vaccinations (such as non-locally born people including new immigrants, foreign domestic helpers, overseas employees and people coming to Hong Kong for further studies) are still at risk of being infected and spreading measles to others without immunity against measles, such as children under one year old who have not yet received the first dose of the measles vaccine. Those who have unknown immunities against measles or need to receive measles vaccinations are urged to consult their doctor.
The Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme introduced a measles vaccine for the first time in 1967. Thanks to the strong support of parents, schools and the healthcare sector, Hong Kong's vaccination coverage has remained at a very high level, enabling the city to successfully eliminate measles in 2016. Over the past two years, measles outbreaks have occurred in many parts of the world, leading to a resurgence of community transmission in some countries that had previously eliminated the disease. However, because Hong Kong's vaccination coverage has remained high, the number of cases recorded in the city has not risen significantly as a result, and Hong Kong has successfully maintained its measles-eliminated status to date.
People born and raised in Hong Kong before 1967 can be considered to have acquired immunity to measles through natural infection, as measles was endemic in Hong Kong at that time. People born in Hong Kong in or after 1967 who have not yet completed the two doses of measles vaccination, or whose measles vaccination history is unknown, should consult their family doctors as soon as possible to complete the vaccination and ensure adequate protection against measles.
The incubation period of measles (i.e. the time from infection to onset of illness) is seven to 21 days. Symptoms include fever, skin rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes. If travellers returning from places with a high incidence or an outbreak of measles develop symptoms of measles (e.g. fever and rash), they should seek medical advice immediately and avoid contact with non-immune individuals, especially pregnant women and infants under one year old. They should also report their symptoms and prior travel history to healthcare workers so that appropriate infection control measures can be implemented at the healthcare facilities to prevent any potential spread.
Besides being vaccinated against measles, members of the public should take the following measures to prevent infection:
- Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene;
- Maintain good indoor ventilation;
- Keep hands clean and wash them properly;
- Wash hands when they are dirtied by respiratory secretions, such as after sneezing;
- Cover the nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing and dispose of nasal and mouth discharge properly;
- Clean used toys and furniture properly; and
- Persons with measles should be kept out of school until four days after the onset of a rash to prevent the spread of the infection to non-immune persons.
For more information on measles, the public may visit the CHP's measles thematic page. Members of the public who are going to travel can visit the website of the DH's Travel Health Service for news of measles outbreaks outside Hong Kong.
The Centre for Health Protection, Photo source: reference image
Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing
The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, led a delegation from the Department of Health (DH) to Beijing today (September 9) to pay a visit to the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). In addition to exchanging information on the latest progress in promoting scientific regulation and innovation in drugs and medical devices, both sides also signed a co-operation agreement to further deepen collaborations and exchanges in testing technologies of Chinese medicine (CM) and the internationalisation of CM standards. On the same day, the DH and the Beijing Municipal Health Commission (BJHC) co-hosted the Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference, with a view to jointly advancing the high-quality healthcare development in Hong Kong.
Witnessed by the Commissioner of the NMPA, Mr Huang Guo, Dr Lam and the Director General of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office of the NMPA, Ms He Li, signed a co-operation agreement on research for CM testing and standards to further extend and deepen collaboration in this area, which has spanned more than a decade.
Under the co-operation agreement, both sides will strengthen exchanges and collaborations in the standards and technologies of CM covering research on and formulation of standards for Chinese Materia Medica, CM decoction pieces, proprietary CM and CM granules; the development of testing technologies; as well as safety tests and risk control for the quality of CM, through multiple channels such as expert meetings, seminars and training. Both sides will also deepen talent training and technical interfacing in accordance with the co-operation agreement, with a view to promoting CM standards and testing technology innovation in alignment with international standards.
Dr Lam thanked the NMPA and its affiliated institution, the National Institute for Drug Control (NIDC), for their longstanding support for CM development in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The permanent building of the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute under the DH commenced operations late last year. The Chinese Medicines Herbarium inside has received professional technical guidance from the NMPA and the NIDC, and was endowed with more than 300 valuable and representative specimens of Chinese Materia Medica commonly used nationwide, enriching its collections and enhancing public understanding of CM.
Dr Lam remarked that the Outline of the National 15th Five-Year Plan has promulgated to advance the inheritance and innovation of CM and to promote its global expansion. The DH will actively leverage its technical strengths in CM testing and quality control to become an important anchor for CM going global, and to strengthen the exploration, utilisation and research of global medicinal resources. This co-operation arrangement will extend the longstanding close collaboration, and further enhance testing expertise level as well as quality and safety control of CM to promote the development of Hong Kong as a bridgehead for CM going global.
Regarding scientific regulation and innovative development of drugs and medical devices, Dr Lam also introduced the establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation, the preparatory work for the 30th Global Harmonization Working Party Annual Meeting and Technical Committee Meeting scheduled for December this year, and the progress of the 2026 annual bilateral work plan, covering issues on strengthening cross-boundary drug regulation and enhancing training and exchanges between the two sides in different areas such as primary evaluation of new drugs and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) for clinical trials of pharmaceutical products.
In the afternoon of the same day, upon the invitation of the BJHC, the DH co-hosted the annual Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference during the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services. Other co-organisers included the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Beijing Municipal Disease Prevention and Control Administration, the Beijing Hospitals Authority and the Cross-straits Medicine Exchange Association. The theme of this year's conference is "Beijing and Hong Kong, Join Hands for a Shared Healthy Future", focusing on discussions of smart healthcare, transformation of scientific achievements, inheritance and innovation of CM and public health emergency response.
Dr Lam said that this year is significant as it marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan. Under the principle of complementing each other in bringing about mutual benefits, the DH will continue to promote exchanges and collaborations with Beijing, actively integrate into and serve the overall national development, and implement a health-first development strategy to fully leverage Hong Kong's distinctive advantages of having strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world to contribute to a "Healthy China".
At the meeting, DH representatives shared how, under the framework of building a health big data ecosystem, Hong Kong's Electronic Health System (eHealth) connects the public and private healthcare sectors to enable realtime sharing of electronic health records, empower citizens to manage their own health, and optimise the allocation of healthcare resources through bigdata analytics. They also introduced Hong Kong's CM regulatory regime and the formulation of CM standards and advancing innovations in testing. Representatives also highlighted Hong Kong's commitment to strengthening primary healthcare under the guiding principle of "prevention first, community-based". The reform is being deepened through chronic disease co-care, intensified tobacco control, and the development of community networks. These measures aim to integrate health management into daily life and encourage citizens to take on the role of being the "first person responsible" for their own health.
During Dr Lam's stay in Beijing, he will also attend some activities on Health and Wellness Service at the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services, and pay a visit to related public health authorities.
Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
