Deadly virus found at food market

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HONG Kong health authorities closed down a poultry market on Saturday after excrement samples collected from hencoops at the marketplace were confirmed to be infected with the deadly strain of H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Dr York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health, announced on Saturday afternoon that the Po On Road Market in Kowloon was infected with the virus and ordered the immediate suspension of trading in the market.

Chow said after days of laboratory testings, five of the 20 excrement samples collected from three poultry stores on June 3 were confirmed H5N1 positive and an order was issued immediately to cull about 2,700 chickens in the market.

"We are still investigating the source of the H5N1 virus infections," he said, adding other 64 poultry markets had reported no H5N1 cases. Chow said there has been no report of human case of H5N1 infections but the department had decided to raise the response level from "vigilance" to "serious" in the city.

In response to the latest H5N1 virus find, Chow said the Food and Health Department had suspended immediately live poultry imports from the Chinese mainland, and trading from local chicken farms will be suspended immediately.

He said such suspension will last for as long as 21 days if necessary.

Chow said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government had notified the Ministry of Agriculture and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on the latest development of bird flu in Hong Kong.

Chow said there had been no unusual incidents reported in registered chicken farms.