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In the light of recent H5 avian influenza outbreaks in South Korea, Vietnam and Japan, the Government has stepped up its monitoring and surveillance efforts to minimise the risk of recurrence of avian influenza outbreaks in Hong Kong.

This follows a meeting yesterday (January 12) chaired by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, with the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, Mr Thomas Chan, and the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Gregory Leung, to map out a strategy for preventing avian influenza outbreaks in Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said today (January 13) that the Government had approached the relevant authorities in South Korea, Vietnam and Japan to obtain more information on the situation in these countries.

"As a precautionary measure, we have temporarily suspended the importation of live birds and poultry meat from these places.

"We have referred to the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), which is the international authority on animal health and disease, and considered that a suspension of importation of table eggs is not necessary.

"To prevent the introduction of the avian influenza virus to farms, biosecurity measures have been imposed on local chicken farms. To prevent infection from wild birds, which are possible carriers of the virus, bird proofing has been implemented on all local farms.

"A territory-wide H5 vaccination and surveillance programme has also been implemented since last June in all local chicken farms as a supplementary measure to prevent the recurrence of an outbreak.

"We have also reached agreement with the Mainland authorities on the vaccination of chickens for export to Hong Kong to ensure similar levels of protection to both imported Mainland chickens and locally produced chickens. By Thursday (January 15), all live chickens available in the local market will be vaccinated," the spokesman said.

The Government has put in place a comprehensive and sensitive avian influenza surveillance programme covering local chicken farms, imported chickens, the wholesale market and retail outlets.

To detect the presence of any avian influenza viruses in the environment, the surveillance programme has been extended to cover wild birds, waterfowl in recreational parks and pet birds in the market.

This has further strengthened the Government's capability to detect the presence of any H5 viruses in the environment and the possible re-assortment of the viruses so that responsive measures can be taken at an early stage to prevent the recurrence of outbreaks. A total of 17,409 samples were tested in 2003, among which 887 were samples from wild birds and recreational parks. The last time that H5 virus was isolated was November 2003.

Hong Kong has an intensive surveillance system for human influenza. At this time, human influenza activity in Hong Kong remains within historical limits and no H5N1 isolate has been detected.

The wholesale and retail markets are also thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis to maintain good hygiene standards. All transport cages and vehicles are required to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before being used for transporting chickens.

In addition, the Government has implemented two rest days per month since last March at retail outlets to help break the viral cycle.

"To maintain an effective strategy to address the avian influenza problem, we need to review our control measures regularly to ensure that they have not outlived their usefulness and explore new options to resolve the problem, in light of the changing circumstances.

"In particular, we need to be vigilant in keeping our guard against any mutation or re-assortment of the virus that may have an impact on human health," the spokesman added.

Commenting on the new development in Vietnam, the spokesman said current tests had shown no evidence of human-to-human transmission at this stage.

Nevertheless, the spokesman urged members of the public to observe good personal hygiene and to wash their hands thoroughly after contact with live birds.

Ends/Tuesday, January 13, 2004

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