Is Hong Kong measles case linked to flight that may have sparked outbreaks in Japan and Taiwan?

Before coming down with measles, expat patient, 46, had been to Thailand, where Taiwanese so-called ‘super spreader’ had also visited ahead of trip to Japan

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A flight has been linked to outbreaks of measles in Taiwan and Okinawa. Photo: Alamy

Published: 9:31am, 3 May 2018Updated: 5:19pm, 8 May 2018

Health authorities in Hong Kong are trying to determine whether an expatriate man confirmed with measles was infected on a Tigerair flight linked to outbreaks in Japan and Taiwan which have left more than 100 people ill so far.

The 46-year-old expat had been to Thailand – where the “index case” or first patient had also visited – before returning to Hong Kong. He was confirmed with the infectious disease in the city last week. None of his contacts had shown symptoms of the highly contagious viral disease, which had an incubation period of about 10 days.

As of Tuesday, six measles cases were recorded in Hong Kong – three in March and three last month. Among them, two cases were imported from mainland China and Indonesia.

In a bid to stop the outbreaks in Japan and Taiwan, authorities tracing cases found that the so-called super spreader, a Taiwanese man, had travelled to Thailand before being confirmed with measles in Okinawa, where in turn 85 others were infected.

Children in Hong Kong get two doses of vaccine, at age one and in Primary One. Photo: Reuters

The Taiwanese man infected a Tigerair flight attendant.