The Department of Health has refuted a newspaper report that a Vietnamese illegal immigrant found in a Sham Shui Po park is infected with the plague.

Police found the 34-year-old man unconscious on March 4. He was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for drug overdose treatment and has no plague symptoms.

The patient, and the areas and transport facilities he used were disinfected as a preventive measure against infectious disease. Disinfection was conducted in accordance with infection control procedures applying to all Vietnamese illegal immigrants who have been out of Vietnam for less than six days.