Press Releases
Chicken carcass sample found in Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market tested positive for H5N1 virus
The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, yesterday (December 20)
announced that a chicken carcass sample taken from the Cheung Sha Wan
Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market (Wholesale Poultry Market) was tested
positive of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus during regular
surveillance of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).
Staff from AFCD found the concerned chicken carcass sample from the
Wholesale Poultry Market yesterday morning. The Government is tracing the
source of the chicken carcass. It is not certain at this stage whether the
chicken came from local farm or was imported.
In view of the finding of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in
the local wholesale poultry market, the Government has raised the response
level for avian influenza from "Alert" to "Serious".
Dr Chow convened a meeting of the Steering Committee on Avian Influenza last
night, which decided to implement a series of measures to prevent the spread
of the virus and to protect public health.
Measures by the Administration include the following:
(1) The Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation declared the
Wholesale Poultry Market as an infected place. AFCD will cull all poultry in
this market, which amounted to more than 17,000 in total number, in the
morning of December 21. The Wholesale Poultry Market will be closed until
January 12, 2012.
(2) Local farms are stopped from dispatching chickens to the market for 21
days. During the period, AFCD would step up inspection on local farms and
collect more samples for tests in order to monitor if any of the local farms
is infected. AFCD had inspected all 30 chicken farms in Hong Kong yesterday
and no abnormality had been detected so far. AFCD would continue to step up
inspection on local farms in the coming few days and conduct virus tests for
chickens.
(3) Imports of live poultry including day-old chicks would be suspended for
21 days. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has
notified the Mainland authorities of the case. The relevant inspection and
quarantine bureaux have been requested to stay alert and take all necessary
precautions to prevent avian influenza in registered live poultry farms
which supply Hong Kong with poultry. The Mainland authorities indicated that
no abnormality has been detected from the registered live poultry farms.
(4) The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) would request all
live poultry retail outlets to be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected to
prevent the virus from growing and accumulating in the environment.
Prohibition of overnight stocking of live poultry at all retail outlets has
been implemented since 2008. As such, no live poultry was kept after 8pm
last night at the retail level. In other words, there would be no live
chicken supply at the retail level during the closure of the Wholesale
Poultry Market.
(5) The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) would contact poultry wholesalers
and workers in the Wholesale Poultry Market as well as local chicken farmers
to follow up on their health condition. The Hospital Authority (HA) has
prepared for contingency response measures. CHP and HA have also urged
doctors and public hospitals to report any suspected case of avian
influenza.
(6) The Administration has stepped up cleansing and biosecurity measures in
the Hong Kong Wetland Park, and has also contacted the World Wild Fund Hong
Kong requesting them to step up their biosecurity measures to reduce the
risk of avian influenza in Mai Po Nature Reserve.
Dr Chow said recent detection of H5N1 virus in local wild birds indicated
that the disease remained a threat to our community.
"It is unfortunate that an avian influenza case is detected before the
Winter Solstice, necessitating a halt to the supply of live chickens. I
understand that it will cause inconvenience to the public, and the poultry
trade will also encounter losses. However, to safeguard public health, we
need to adopt decisive and effective measures to prevent and control the
spread of the virus," Dr Chow said.
Dr Chow called for concerted effort from the community to guard against
avian flu. Members of the public should strictly observe personal and
environmental hygiene, and stay away from dead birds, avoid contact with
wild birds, live poultry and their droppings. Members of the public should
consult their doctors for medical advice promptly if they have fever or flu
symptoms.
Dr Chow noted the incident has reflected the effectiveness of the
Government's established surveillance on avian influenza virus. Such
effective surveillance has enabled contingency measures to be taken swiftly.
Ends/Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Issued at HKT 04:15
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