Culling operation completed
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     The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has completed the poultry culling operation by around 5.30pm today (December 31).

     A total of 18 962 poultry, including 11 800 chickens, 3 140 silky fowls, 1 025 chukars and 2 997 pigeons, were destroyed. They were sent to landfills for disposal.

     Sixty staff took part in the operation.

     The Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market was thoroughly cleansed and disinfected today to prevent the virus from growing and accumulating in the environment. It will be closed until January 21.

     Local farms are stopped from dispatching chickens to the wholesale market. The AFCD would step up inspection on local farms and collect more samples for tests in order to monitor if any of the local chickens would be infected. The inspection is expected to complete in three to four days. If all the test results are satisfactory, local farmers would be allowed to sell their chickens to retail outlets via the Ta Kwu Ling Checkpoint.

     Surveillance and monitoring of local chicken farms will be maintained. The AFCD has requested all poultry farmers to immediately report abnormalities and adhere strictly to enforcing farm biosecurity measures. The AFCD will step up inspection on local farms and collect samples for testing.

Ends/Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Issued at HKT 20:34

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