Deadly bird flu fear grips Hong Kong

from: http://upiasiaonline.com/Society_Culture/2008/06/13/deadly_bird_flu_fear_grips_hong_kong/2884/


Hong Kong, China — Fears of the deadly H5N1 bird flu gripped Hong Kong Wednesday as chickens in different markets across the territory tested positive for the lethal strain.

The outbreak which has health authorities scrambling to contain it, first surfaced last Saturday in a single market during a routine inspection and has since been discovered in other markets that sell live poultry. The Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation department exercising statutory power declared all markets and fresh provision shops selling live poultry as infected areas leading to the temporary closure of all 260 stalls selling live poultry in 64 wet markets in the city. A further 209 fresh provision shops surrendered their chicken products to health authorities.

Along with the closure, authorities culled more than 3,500 chickens and disinfected wholesale and retail markets thoroughly to stop the strain from spreading. However, the source of the flu has kept many guessing, although there is a growing suspicion on Mainland China, which supplies 80 percent of Hong Kong’s chicken and has had sporadic outbreaks of avian flu since 2003 including human infections. Although the source has not yet been pinned, import of live chicken from the Mainland has been temporarily suspended.

The secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in a press release said, "In light of the presence of avian influenza virus in more markets, we decided to suspend temporarily live chicken imports from the Mainland for 21 days with effect from today (June 11) with reference to the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health.”

Samples from 50 local chicken farms in Hong Kong, however, proved negative for the H5N1 strain. As a precautionary measure, “local farms would stop dispatching chickens to the market,” Chow said. Local farms are relatively safe due to stringent biosecurity measures adopted under strict guidelines from the AFCD and operate in a closed environment.

Despite a swift move by government authorities to contain the virus, Hong Kong remains jittery over the virus jumping the species barriers and infecting humans. The avian flu has revived memories of the first outbreak in 1997 where the strain infected 18 people. Six died. There have been three outbreaks since in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Jo Leung, a local primary school teacher said she was worried but felt that chicken that was already cleaned, cut and frozen sold in supermarkets was good for consumption. “I will not eat any chicken for a while. But I think the frozen ones in supermarkets are okay if properly cooked,” she said.

Although there is no evidence yet of any human infections, especially in vendors who may have had some contact with the infected birds, health authorities are not taking any chances. The Department of Health and the Hospital Authority is monitoring the health conditions of poultry workers in the affected markets and the Centre for Health Protection has called on members of the public to seek immediate medical treatment if they exhibit influenza symptoms such as high fever. Public and private hospitals as well as clinics have been told to report to CHP immediately, if a suspected case of avian influenza turns up. In addition, CHP has also set up a telephone hotline to answer public enquiries and monitor public health conditions.

The fear of a territory wide outbreak is so high that the Government has spared no efforts in cracking down on illegal import of live poultry and birds. The Customs and Excise Department together with other relevant departments have stepped up vigilance on smuggling activities and have called on the public to report any cases of possible poultry smuggling into the territory, especially across the border from the mainland. A dedicated Customs information telephone hotline has been set up.

Despite the efforts, poultry traders have criticized the government for not suspending live chicken wholesale trading immediately after the bird flu was detected last Saturday. Traders are upset that retailers could buy at wholesale markets even after the ban on live poultry imports from the mainland and supplies from local chicken farms was imposed, only to find the AFCD on their doorsteps waiting to cull the chickens. Financial losses could have been avoided, they argue.

However, as per media reports, officials from the Food and Environmental Hygiene department have discussed compensation with chicken traders and retailers. FEHD has also sent staff to Mainland registered farms and processing plants to ensure that chickens and poultry meat for Hong Kong is safe and supply would not be affected.

Beyond all the vigilance, research and precautionary measures by the government to combat the virus outbreak, Hong Kong remains on high alert for a dangerous avian flu virus that has the capability to create a global pandemic.