Hong Kong - Hong Kong officials on Wednesday ordered the
culling of all poultry in markets after confirmation that the deadly
bird flu virus had been found in four markets.
The government said tests carried out on chicken faeces at four
markets throughout the territory had shown positive results for the
H5N1 virus which has infected 383 and killed 241 people worldwide
since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
Up to 3,000 birds are expected to be slaughtered, however birds in
local farms will not be affected.
The discovery follows the culling of almost 3,000 chickens at the
weekend after the virus was discovered at a city market in Po On
Road.
The mass culling is a grim reminder to Hong Kong of 1997 when all
poultry were slaughtered when the territory experienced the first
modern case of the bird flu virus jumping the species barrier to
infect humans.
On that occasion the move came too late to avoid human fatalities
and six of the 18 people infected died.
Since, thanks largely to stringent checks and mass culls when any
cases are discovered, there have been no further cases of humans
infected by bird flu in Hong Kong.
However, the new discovery highlights the difficulties in
protecting Hong Kong completely from the virus, which is speculated
to have been carried over the border from China in smuggled chickens.
Deputy director of food and environmental hygiene Alice Lau
said that so far the virus had not been found in any dead chicken
and there had been no human infections
'Of course we cannot be complacent and that is why we are taking
this decisive measure to close all retail outlets and cull all
remaining poultry,' she said.
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