The man was working on a construction site on Ma Wan island, off Hong Kong's New Territories and near Lantau Island, and had not traveled abroad during the disease's incubation period.

Preliminary blood tests showed that two of his colleagues had the disease early in the month but had recovered. Other workers have been put under medical surveillance.
The government has fumigated Ma Wan and urged any people working at or living near the building site -- and suffering from symptoms such as high fever, headaches, rashes, cramps and severe back and muscle pains -- to call hotlines they have set up.

So far this year, 11 people have been hit with dengue fever in Hong Kong, with 10 of them having contracted the disease while overseas, the Health Department said.

Beware standing water

While the mosquito-borne infection is seldom deadly, dengue haemorrhagic fever is a potentially fatal complication that triggers internal bleeding.

The World Health Organization estimates there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection each year, with about 5 percent of people infected dying.

The viral disease is prevalent in areas where people and animals live near standing water.

Other parts of Asia have seen an alarming rise in cases of the disease, with more than 400 people stricken with the disease in Taiwan in June, the largest number of cases in 14 years, according to wire reports.

The outbreak of the illness might have been caused by warmer temperatures, higher rainfall and lax efforts to clear out standing water that breeds mosquitos, Taiwanese health officials said at the time.