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Hong Kong orders market cleanup after flu virus found in dead bird

Feb 13, 2008, 10:32 GMT

Hong Kong - A Hong Kong market had to be disinfected Wednesday after the discovery of a dead bird suspected to have the deadly avian flu virus. Initial tests on the bird, a common species in Hong Kong, indicated it was infected with H5N1, the avian influenza virus responsible for the deaths of 226 people worldwide according to the World Health Organization. Government health officials said further tests would be carried out on the bird but as a precaution ordered the cleansing and disinfection of the Cheung Sha Wan wholesale food and poultry market where the carcass of the bird was found Sunday. Hong Kong has stayed free of any human cases of H5N1 since 1997 when the virus jumped the species barrier and infected 18 people, killing six. The outbreak prompted the government to put in place stringent controls on imports and mandatory cleaning at poultry markets.

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Hong Kong orders market cleanup after flu virus found in dead bird

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