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Following is a transcript (English portion) of a media session by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, after speaking at the Debate on the Motions of Thanks in respect of the Chief Executive's Policy Address at the Legislative Council today (October 28):
Reporter: (precautionary measures?)
Dr Chow: I think there is great concern about the possibility of avian flu to be introduced into Hong Kong and also the slim possibility of a pandemic in the world. The assessment right now since there are migratory birds flying more from the north to south during this time of the year, we probably will see a higher chance of migratory birds carrying H5N1 virus into our territory as well as our neighbouring territories. So, it may not be a surprise we may detect some of the birds having those viruses. The possibility of it infecting humans in fact is quite slim because not many of those birds will be close to humans. But what we fear most is those birds could introduce H5N1 avian flu in the flock of poultry, particularly in chickens. So, the biosecurity in our chicken farms is very important. At the same time, we want to ensure that similar measures are being taken in the vicinity of Hong Kong, particularly those who supply live chickens to Hong Kong. We will be stepping our surveillance and also testing of our imported chickens as well as other measures that we have introduced. Regarding the importation of pet birds, as you probably have heard that recently there is H5N1 detected in pet birds, particularly in the parrot of United Kingdom. We feel that it is also important to have higher surveillance of our pet birds in Hong Kong. At the moment, we have only two specific farms in Guangdong, which supply pet birds to Hong Kong and our birds are being quarantined for two weeks before they are exported to Hong Kong. They will also be quarantined in Hong Kong for a period of time to ensure that they are healthy and safe before they are taken to the markets. But I would like to warn against any of those traders who might have access to smuggled birds because this might create another risk that cannot be easily controlled in Hong Kong. Regarding the possibility of pandemic, according to my knowledge, particularly through the information from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the last few days, they assess the risk is not high. Of course, Hong Kong should be always prepared to face any pandemic, particularly imported from elsewhere. We have a series of plans, contingency plans and alert system. So, whenever there is any sign of an increased risk, we have to inform the public. We have very good detecting system, particularly our laboratory system, the clinical skills of our frontline doctors, and also the equipment that is used to isolate patients and detect virus in a matter of hours. So, I think this is very important. We are equipped to face any imported cases. At the same time, I would like to advise the public to look after themselves, particularly in personal hygiene and also to ensure that if you have any illnesses that you are unfamiliar with and also you have contacts with birds and then develop illnesses, try to go to the doctor early so that you can have the right test.
Reporter: (close the border?)
Dr Chow: This is stated according to the WHO international health regulations that any territory and also member of the WHO should consider closing (the border) when it has a pandemic or a serious disease that is spreading around. What I have described is the worse scenario that in case if there is a pandemic in Hong Kong or in the vicinity of Hong Kong, we might have to consider certain borders. What we cannot, at this moment of time, say how we close (the border) and for how long because it really depends on the situation. Some legislators questioned whether we should be banning any food imports but if the food is not a medium to transmit viruses, I think there is no reason to ban it from importing to Hong Kong. What I am worried about is the movement of people, particularly human-to-human transmission. In that case, we might have to consider limiting the passage of borders and perhaps introduce also quarantine measures on either side of the border.
Reporter: What is the worst scenario?
Dr Chow: I don't want to imagine that yet. But if you consider what happen is that when there is very high fatality regarding a human-to-human transmission, and particularly in influenza, there might be very short incubation period and people might be transmitting the disease even before they develop fever or any symptoms. So, that is the situation. If you look at the history of influenza, a lot of experts even said there is no way you can prevent the spread because this is simply how nature creates itself. Our intention is that we try to get as much information as possible for ourselves as well as from our neighbours and at the same time try to institute the safety measures early and timely. But I should warn that we should not try to tire ourselves by just being panic. And this is very important because sometimes you create more problems and more policies that would in turn create more hazards and dangers in some ways too. This is very important. So, I think it's still back to the basics. We need to be more alert to our health condition; we need to inform our doctor about any symptoms or contacts with birds or poultry before illnesses started. The public should be well aware of where they go, especially if you have influenza try to wear a mask, so it would not be transmitted to the others. I think all these are really basic measures that everyone should have adopted.
Reporter: Are you aware that people might start panic when for example one lawmaker might say start shooting migratory birds or just one case of bird flu occurred across the border, people might march on the street for not having enough tamiflu. Are you considering that this might happen?
Dr Chow: The reason why I said so much today is to ensure that people should not panic because we do have enough information on what's going on. We also have an alert system to inform the public of any new development that actually happens. So, there's no need to panic at this stage. There is every means that we have gathered so far both in surveillance and in detection of illnesses. In case of an unfortunate event of any body who might have avian flu, we have the treatment and expertise in Hong Kong. The chance of pandemic is actually not very high as most expertise say. I have a feeling that it would not be originating in Hong Kong because you need the environment to create a pandemic. You have to have a lot of birds, and a lot of ignorance and negligence in certain areas before you can have a pandemic.
Reporter: Is the Government in talks with Roche to produce more tamiflu for Hong Kong?
Dr Chow: We have assessed the situation even last year, noting tamiflu has an expiry date of three years. So, we try to build up the stockpile and we want to ensure that we do not actually have our stockpile coming to the same date of expiry. So, we try to arrange the shipment coming in batches. At the moment, we have 3.5 million capsules of tamiflu in Hong Kong in both the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority. There would be sufficient tamiflu for any early pandemic, I would say. First of all, we do not know whether tamiflu would be effective for any pandemic but we assume that if the virus is very similar to H5N1 or other influenza viruses, then tamiflu would be effective.
Reporter: (British scientists)
Dr Chow: I have met quite a number of experts while I was in Ottawa meeting with the WHO, I am sure other academics will be coming to Hong Kong to learn from some of the work being done by our scientists in Hong Kong. As I have said we have very good expertise in Hong Kong in both the Department of Health and universities, and also the Hospital Authority. So, I'm not so worry about the expertise available but rather, if we have good exchange with our neighbours and able to disseminate the information to them, and also gather information from them, it would be much help to us in preparing ourselves in case any new development comes along. So at the moment, I would say we are not and should not be panicking about what happens but we should be cautious about what is happening in the neighbouring territories.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Friday, October 28, 2005
Issued at HKT 22:45
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