A nine-year-old Hong Kong girl has contracted a rare bacterial infection and is fighting for her life in hospital after visiting Japan during the Easter holiday, with health authorities contacting the other tour group members as a precaution.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Friday that the girl, who was in a critical condition in the paediatric intensive care unit of Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, began showing symptoms of invasive meningococcal infection including fever, nausea and malaise the previous day.

Her condition worsened on Thursday night and she was rushed to the accident and emergency (A&E) department in shock and with a non-blanching rash.

The girl, who has an underlying illness, travelled with her family to Japan in a tour group between April 2 and 6, during the infection’s incubation period.

The source of her infection was still under investigation as her household contacts had remained asymptomatic, the centre said.

“The patient has been to crowded places during her stay in Japan, it cannot be ruled out that she was infected through contact with carriers at the location she visited,” it said.