Deadly bacteria found in Hong Kong leader's office

Jan 3, 2012, 2:36 GMT

Hong Kong - Potentially fatal bacteria that cause legionnaires' disease were found in the office of Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang, a news report said Tuesday.

The discovery of the bacteria in the offices of the government's new headquarters came after Education Secretary Michael Suen was hospitalized last month with the disease.

Bacteria causing the disease were found in the washroom of Suen's office and have now been discovered in the office of Chief Executive Tsang and other government department heads, the South China Morning Post said.

Suen has recovered and has been discharged from hospital. Tsang had not been affected by the bacteria and no one else had fallen ill, the newspaper said.

A spokesman for the government's Centre for Health Protection said the government building need not be closed and simple disinfection should solve the problem.

Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia. The bacteria that cause it thrive in warm water in storage tanks and air-conditioning units and are usually found in older buildings. It is fatal in about 10 to 15 per cent of cases.

The new Hong Kong government headquarters, which is to house 3,000 civil servants, cost 5.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (708 million US dollars) to build. It opened in September after a last-minute rush to complete the project amid complaints of substandard interior work.