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Following is a transcript (English portion) of remarks made by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session at Murray Building in Central today (March 7):
Reporter: (the situation in China)
Dr Chow: I think the situation is increasingly worrying among every country including Europe. About the situation in China, of course, we have been monitoring it very closely. So far, in the last few months, there were altogether 15 patients and nine of them died. We are more concerned about the recent case that is in Guangzhou, not only because it is closer to Hong Kong but also because of two other elements: one is he is an urban resident. He has no contact with farms or any poultry from the villages. His only exposure is the wet market which has poultry that supposedly should be safe for consumption and safe for the public. We also know that the Guangdong Province is one of the best provinces in terms of supervising the control of avian influenza. Since last year, all the poultry in Guangdong has been immunised by vaccination. With that background, we would like to take time for the authorities concerned to investigate the case to see whether there is any change of the virus, any problem of the vaccine or any other factors in the wet market that will contribute to this infection.
Reporter: (the case in Guangzhou)
Dr Chow: We have been monitoring the situation very closely. I'm sure with the facilities and all the advanced technology that the Chinese CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) has nowadays, they should be able to identify some reasons and factors regarding this particular case.
Reporter: (vaccination)
Dr Chow: Like all vaccinations, there is always a chance of a sub-clinical infection after vaccination. We cannot confirm whether the present case is related to such an infection among the poultry in China. But this is something we are concerned with, just like any human infection. It is important to allow the authorities to have time to investigate and to ascertain what are the contributing factors to this present case.
Reporter: Some members of the poultry trade are not too happy about the ban…
Dr Chow: Our Government officials have met with the trade representatives yesterday as well as today. We have also reassured them that this policy is rightful, to prevent any outbreak of avian influenza infection in Hong Kong. We also asked them to cooperate with us. This is not a policy that is set out today. This policy was actually established last year. We have very clear communication with the trade. We would like to appeal to them that they should comply with what they promise and at the same time, I think we will try to help them to maintain as much as possible their livelihood.
Reporter: (chicken farms)
Dr Chow: In fact, the Guangdong authorities are already doing what is necessary to maintain the surveillance of their farms and also their markets. It is important that we maintain communication with them on a regular basis, which we do.
Reporter: (communication)
Dr Chow: In fact, we have communication almost every day now with the Guangdong authorities. If there is any incident and findings, they will notify us as soon as possible.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:51
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