The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 9) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the District of Viersen of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany, the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District of the Province of British Columbia in Canada, and the East Cambridgeshire District of Cambridgeshire County and the Swale District of Kent County in the United Kingdom (UK), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, in the first nine months of this year, while no poultry meat or eggs were imported into Hong Kong from Canada, Hong Kong imported about 60 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Germany, and about 770 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 1.17 million poultry eggs from the UK.

     "The CFS has contacted the German, Canadian and British authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

Ends/Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Issued at HKT 18:18

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