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The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, today (December 9) declared that a local chicken farm at Ha Chuen in Lau Fau Shan, Yuen Long as an infected place, after dead chickens found in the farm were tested positive of avian influenza.
An area within three-kilometre radius of the farm had also been declared an infected place. Concerned departments would cull all the chickens, estimated 80,000 in total number, in the infected area.
At the same time, Dr Chow announced that the alert level for avian influenza has been raised to Serious Response Level.
To prevent the spread of virus, an inter-departmental group led by the Secretary for Food and Health had decided to take a series of actions according to the contingency plan for Serious Response Level. Besides culling all chickens within the infected area, all local farms would stop dispatching chickens to the market for 21 days. During that period, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) would field staff to inspect all local chicken farms and take samples for testing, to ensure that the virus would not be spreading to other farms.
Meanwhile, import of all live poultry including day-old chicks and pet birds would be suspended for 21 days.
As a precautionary measure, AFCD staff would also cull some 10,000 chickens staying in the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Poultry Wholesale Market in view of the fact that chickens from the index farm had been sent to the wholesale market.
For retail markets, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department would request all live poultry retail outlets to be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected to prevent the virus from growing and accumulating in the environment.
As the Hong Kong Wetland Park is located within the three-kilometer radius of the index farm, its outdoor section of the park would need to be closed for 21 days. The Administration had also contacted the Ocean Park, the World Wild Fund Hong Kong and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department requesting them to step up their biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of avian influenza in their venues and/or parks.
Although the outdoor section of the Wetland Park would be closed for 21 days, the indoor section would continue to open for the public. The Administration would closely monitor the situation and review the closure period accordingly.
Speaking to the press on the issue, Dr Chow said the Steering Committee on Avian Influenza had been convened today, and the actions and necessary measures were fully supported by members. All Government departments concerned were well prepared and fully aware of their action plan.
He said: "This incident has reflected the effectiveness of all our hard work in the past years in the prevention of avian influenza, through regular surveillance and the alertness of our farmers, we can detect the virus at an early stage so that we can put in place a series of measures to prevent the virus from spreading.
"In the past, we have been issuing warnings of different levels alerting the trade and members of the public that the threat of avian influence is still with us and we should continue to be on guard to prevent its outbreak.
"To minimize the threat of avian influenza, we introduced the buyout scheme for the live poultry trade in the middle of this year. With concerted effort from all parties concerned, Hong Kong's poultry farms have been spared of an avian influenza outbreak in the past six years. Despite our repeated warnings and our very good preventive measures adopted, this incident shows us that it is no guarantee that we would not have an avian influenza outbreak in our farms. "
Staff of the AFCD received a report of abnormal death of chickens in a Yuen Long farm by its operator yesterday. Upon arrival at the farm, AFCD staff found 60 dead chickens there. They took away three dead chickens and 120 chicken faecal samples for testing. The PCR test results were available this morning, which were tested positive of H5 avian influenza.
The AFCD advised the public: not to bring in live poultry to Hong Kong, avoid contact with live chickens, and wash their hands after making contact with live chickens. The department also urged the public to fully cook their chicken before eating.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has issued a letter to all doctors in Hong Kong urging them to report any suspected human avian influenza case. The CHP would join hands with the Hospital Authority to provide health check to live poultry trade operators. A hotline 2125 1122 has been set up for trade operators and members of the public for enquiries.
To prevent avian influenza, the CHP also urged the public to stay alert and keep good personal and environmental hygiene, and to see a doctor when they have symptoms such as high fever.
Ends/Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Issued at HKT 22:31
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