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Following is a transcript of remarks (English portion) made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, after attending a public function this morning (August 31):
Reporter: (On the suspected high level of chromium in vegetables from Yunnan Province.)
Secretary for Food and Health: We have contacted the relevant authority in the Mainland and they will investigate whether the farms that supply vegetables to Hong Kong are being affected by the incident. As far as the preliminary information goes, there may be two or three farms located in the area affected by the polluted drainage of the water. However, whether those farms are directly being irrigated by that source of water is still not fully known. So we will be following up with that. On the other hand, we also test all the vegetable samples from the Mainland and have tried to single out those coming from Yunnan in the last week or so. The result will come out in a few days.
Reporter: (On possible outbreaks of communicable diseases in the new school year.)
Secretary for Food and Health: Potentially, I think there is a risk of increased infection of scarlet fever and other types of infectious diseases, particularly respiratory infections like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hand, foot and mouth disease, and so on. This is usually the risky time for young children, particularly when they go back to school. That is the reason why we always advise both parents and students to ensure that they have good personal and environmental hygiene. If they have serious illness with fever and infectious disease of any kind, they should stay home and not infect other classmates.
Reporter: (On the warning by the United Nations of a possible resurgence of avian flu.)
Secretary for Food and Health: According to the number of infected avian flu incidents in the last four years, normally there are about 40 to 70 cases a year. This year, up to August 15, there are 49 cases reported worldwide and the last case is from Cambodia. The H5N1 virus always has a tendency to have antigenic drift, that is a little shift of the antigens within the genetic make-up. So there are always some changes. For the recent change of H5N1-2.3.2.1, it is actually within the estimated range. We will be monitoring very closely about the situation. As far as the chicken farms in Hong Kong are concerned, our existing vaccine against this type of virus is still proven to be effective. So we do not see the risk is higher. But we will follow up on all the changes because avian flu usually occurs more frequently in wintertime. That is the reason why we will be closely monitoring the type of H5N1 virus in our dead birds, if we find any, and also reports from the surrounding regions.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Issued at HKT 15:48
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