The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH), in collaboration with multiple government departments, today (November 25) conducted a public health exercise codenamed "Amethyst" to enhance their response capabilities in dealing with a case of Ebola disease and to increase awareness among stakeholders about the handling of public health emergencies. Approximately 40 representatives from the DH, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Fire Services Department and the Civil Aid Service participated in this ground movement exercise. To strengthen exchanges with the Chinese Mainland and the international community, over 20 experts from the National Health Commission (NHC), the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration (NDCPA), Shaanxi Province, Hubei Province, Guangdong Province, Chinese Mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Singapore health authorities were invited to attend as observers.
      
     The exercise was held at the Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility today. Under the exercise simulation, the CHP received a notification about a manual worker suspected of having Ebola disease, prompting an immediate epidemiological investigation. Upon laboratory confirmation of the case, the CHP co-ordinated with relevant government departments according to the established mechanism to conduct on-site investigations and risk assessment, as well as to implement control measures to prevent the spread of the virus at the lodgings where the patient was accommodated. Simultaneously, the exercise simulated the transfer of the patient to isolation facilities, environmental disinfection, contact tracing, and the arrangement of quarantine. 
      
     This ground movement exercise is the second part of the public health exercise "Amethyst". The first part, a table-top exercise, was completed on November 12, in which eight relevant government departments and the Hospital Authority discussed and co-ordinated the emergency response measures required in a scenario when an imported case of Ebola disease was reported in Hong Kong.
      
     "This exercise was successfully completed and provided valuable opportunities for all the relevant participating units to test each individual aspect in handling public health emergencies, ensuring seamless co-ordination and efficient collaboration. It also effectively enhanced every stakeholder's awareness of prevention and control, as well as their response capabilities in dealing with cases of Ebola disease. The DH has previously conducted 32 exercises on the prevention and control of communicable diseases, including simulations of measles, plague, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and human avian influenza cases. These exercises aim to enhance the disease prevention awareness of both the community and healthcare workers and to continuously refine all public health emergency preparedness and response plans, ensuring readiness for potential outbreaks," the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, said.
      
     "This exercise, featuring experts from various regions, presents a golden opportunity. As observers, they provided us with advice on prevention and control, enabling us to compare and align communicable disease response measures. This will help refine the Hong Kong SAR's contingency plans for preventing and controlling highly contagious diseases," he added.
      
     Ebola disease is a severe acute viral illness, with human-to-human transmission resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such body fluids. According to information from the World Health Organization, the case fatality rates from past Ebola outbreaks range between 25 per cent and 90 per cent, and the average is around 50 per cent. Locally, viral haemorrhagic fever (including Ebola disease) is one of the statutory notifiable infectious diseases in Hong Kong. 
      
     Dr Lam expressed his gratitude to all government departments for their active participation, as well as to the NHC, the NDCPA, relevant Chinese Mainland provinces and municipalities, the Macao SAR and the Singapore health authorities, for their support. He emphasised that even though Hong Kong has never recorded a confirmed case of Ebola, as an international city, it must remain vigilant and prepared for epidemic prevention and control at all times, building a strong defence to safeguard public health.

Ends/Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 20:16

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