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Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, after attending a public function today (June 5):
Reporter: (whether the positive specimen came from a local poultry farm and whether the poultry in Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market will be slaughtered)
Secretary for Food and Health: We are very concerned about the finding of H7N9 virus in a sample gathered in the middle of May from a stall in Tuen Mun. At the present moment, the various concerned departments still need to gather more information to facilitate their investigation. One of the major objectives is of course to trace, if possible, the source of the positive specimen; whether it actually came from a local poultry farm or from the Mainland. We know that at present, the supply of live poultry from the Mainland stays at a very low level. However, we still cannot make a 100 percent conclusion of the source of H7N9 virus in that particular specimen. There will be an inter-departmental meeting tomorrow. Base on the information gathered as far as possible from all concerned departments and the investigation results, we hope to make a risk assessment to determine the way forward.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Sunday, June 5, 2016
Issued at HKT 13:27
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