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A combination of 3 simple clinical parameters may be useful for screening for severe oropharyngeal dysphagia as shown radiologically in subjects with Parkinson's disease.

Worldwide, the incidence of motor neuron disease (MND) has been increasing steadily over recent decades. We reported a follow-up epidemiology study of MND in this locality. We identified the subjects from the computer database of the government hospital system between 1 January 1997 and 31 January 2002 by searching the ICD code starting from 335.xx. Every retrieved case or their records were reviewed and validated by neurologist(s) of the responsible regional hospitals which the patients attended. One hundred and twenty cases from seven regional hospitals (serving 48.05% of the HKSAR population) were identified, validated and confirmed to be MND or related diseases. Ninety-eight new cases were diagnosed during the study period. Average age of onset was 58.76 years; SD 14.12 (28-89) years. Male to female ratio was 1.72:1. Peak age of onset was 60-64 years without sex difference. The adjusted incidence rate was 0.60/100,000/year. The adjusted point prevalence at the prevalence date (31 January 2001) was 3.04/100,000. Despite the incidence and prevalence of MND among Hong Kong Chinese, it remained low compared to worldwide figures, and our data suggested a significant rise of MND or related disease in the last decade. A territory-wide prospective epidemiological study is indicated.

A horse in Hong Kong that had been vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis suffered a pyrexic episode that culminated in a hyperexcitable state and self-inflicted trauma. Japanese encephalitis was diagnosed on the basis of clinical, pathological and serological observations, and confirmed by the detection of genomic sequences of the virus in spinal cord tissue. Phylogenetic analyses of E gene and NS5-3'UTR sequences revealed divergent clustering of these segments with previously described genotypes, suggesting the possibility that the horse might have been infected with a recombinant between genotype I and genotype II viruses. Horses are considered to be dead-end hosts for the disease, but the occurrence of an infected horse in a population may have implications for the health status of the national herd. The effect that this case had on the horse industry in Hong Kong is discussed with specific reference to the movement of horses and the vaccination programme for Japanese encephalitis.

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