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Following announcement made by the Mainland that further suspected avian influenza outbreak had been found in the Guangdong Province, Anhui Province and Shanghai city, a spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said tonight (January 30) that the Government has temporarily suspended import of live birds and poultry meat from the Mainland.
"We have received notification from the Mainland authorities on the outbreak situation and decided that all live birds, including chickens, ducks, geese, pet birds and day-old chickens, and all poultry meat would not be allowed to be exported to Hong Kong with immediate effect," the spokesman said.
The spokesman stressed that there were no registered chicken farms for export to Hong Kong in the Jiedong county, including Jieyang city, of the Guangdong Province which was suspected to be affected by an avian influenza outbreak, this precautionary measure was taken to protect public health by suspending the importation of live birds and poultry meat from the Mainland.
"The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will step up inspections of retail markets to watch out for any signs of infection in chickens.
"In the meantime, there has been no report of any abnormalities in our local farms," the spokesman added.
End/Friday, January 30, 2004
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