Hong Kong has ordered the culling of 2,700 birds after finding the feared H5N1 bird flu virus at a poultry market.
Hong Kong officials said they had banned poultry imports from mainland China for 21 days, as well as from local farms in the area.
By: Jennifer Hong
Jun 7, 2008 18:31 PM GMT
The Hong Kong is once again on alert as health officials found the feared H5N1 bird flu virus at a poultry market on Saturday. The government has ordered the culling of 2,700 birds.Government officials have placed a ban on poultry imports from mainland China for 21 days, as well as from local farms in the territory, as health officials investigate the source. Officials added there are no human infections detected. The virus was discovered in the Po On Road market in the city's Sham Shui Po territory. It is not the first appearance of the disease in the neighborhood, with infected wild birds recently discovered last year. The virus has killed 241 people in a dozen countries since it resurfaced in Asia in late 2003. While most people who have caught bird flu have had direct or indirect contact with infected fowl, experts fear the constantly mutating H5N1 virus could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person which could infect millions worldwide.
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