Press Releases
Live chicken sale in Hong Kong to be resumed coming Tuesday
Live chicken sale in Hong Kong will be resumed on Tuesday (December 30), and
import of live poultry, including day-old chicks and pet birds, will be
resumed one day before to tie in with the live chicken sale, a spokesman for
the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) announced today (December 28).
However, live chickens are still banned from entering or leaving the index
farm in Yuen Long where its chickens were confirmed to have been infected
with avian influenza on December 9. The ban lasts for at least 90 days
starting from December 9.
Before the farm could be reopened, veterinaries would conduct inspections
and be satisfied with the farm's disinfection and cleansing condition. At
the same time, the farm concerned would need to pass the tests on virus and
also further enhance on the bio-security measures.
"Since the detection of avian influenza in the Yuen Long farm, staff of the
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has conducted
inspections on all local chicken farms for a number of times to follow up
their bio-security measures and collect samples for testing with a view to
ascertaining whether the chickens can be put on sale again," the spokesman
said.
AFCD has conducted a total of three rounds of tests on the farms, and the
test results are all negative.
"After assessing the hygienic condition of the local farms and consulting
the investigation group responsible for looking into the avian influenza
incident, as well as taking into consideration the negative test results of
the samples collected from local farms and the relevant guidelines of the
World Organisation for Animal Health, AFCD considered that the supply of
live poultry could be resumed after the 21-day ban," the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that thorough cleansing and disinfection would be
conducted again at the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Poultry Wholesale Market and
all live poultry retail outlets before the resumption of live poultry sale.
"The modification works of live poultry stocking areas at the wholesale
market have been completed. To step up the bio-security measures at the
wholesale market after the resumption of live poultry import, wholesalers
should keep all live chickens to be stocked overnight at designated stocking
areas. As in the past, all the chickens stocked in these areas must be sold
and delivered out of the wholesale market no later than 7 am on the
following day.
"After all the chickens are cleared, the stocking areas will be thoroughly
cleansed and disinfected daily before the new batch of poultry to be stocked
would be admitted into the areas. Wholesalers are also required to strictly
observe other relevant bio-security measures, including no overstocking of
live poultry in cages, thorough cleansing and disinfection of cages after
use, the wearing of gloves when contacting live poultry etc., to minimise
the risk of avian influenza. Overnight stocking of live chickens at retail
outlets will continue to be banned to avoid accumulation of virus," the
spokesman said.
The spokesman added that AFCD had in the past two weeks organised seminars
for chicken farmers, wholesalers and their workers and also written to the
trade to remind them to strictly observe the relevant bio-security measures.
The department would continue to organise seminars and offer technical
support to the trade.
All relevant government departments would also strengthen the inspection and
monitoring work at all levels, including efforts to combat smuggling of live
poultry and relevant products, with a view to preventing avian influenza and
protecting public health.
After the detection of avian influenza in a chicken farm in Ha Chuen, Lau
Fau Shan, Yuen Long on December 9, the Government had declared the area
within three-kilometre radius of the farm as an infected place and suspended
the dispatch of live chickens from local farms to the market as well as
import of live chickens for 21 days.
FHB also set up two investigation groups responsible for conducting an
epidemiological study on the Yuen Long index farm and vaccine study
respectively. Apart from gathering the scientific data and information in
relation to the incident, their investigation would help the Government
formulate more effective measures and direction in the fight against avian
influenza. The two investigation groups are now conducting their work.
The investigation group on epidemiological study is drawing up a preliminary
report which is expected to be submitted to FHB shortly.
Ends/Sunday, December 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:43
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