(CN) Bird Flu

[Guest guest]

Battered to death

by Staff reporter, Hong Kong Standard

http://www.hkstandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?

pp_cat=12 & art_id=53652 & sid=15422261 & con_type=1

 

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

 

A worker bashes in the brains of ducks in a massive cull in Guangdong

province, where health officials are desperately trying to control an

outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

 

The outbreak means Hong Kongers may have to dig deeper into their

pockets if they want chicken to be on their menu for next week's Mid-

Autumn Festival.

 

The latest bird flu outbreak in Guangdong has forced the SAR

authorities to scrap an earlier decision to allow live chicken

imports from the mainland to be increased to 70,000 birds daily to

meet the demand for the festival, which falls on Wednesday next week.

 

Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said yesterday

imports of live poultry as well as frozen ducks and geese from

Guangdong will be suspended for three weeks following the

confirmation of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu among ducks in

Guangzhou's Panyu district.

 

" All chilled and frozen duck and geese from Guangdong will be

suspended for one week, and the government will scrap an arrangement

to increase imports of live chickens for the Mid-Autumn Festival, "

Chow said.

 

But he stressed that the move is only a precautionary measure. " So

far, no problems have been detected among mainland poultry and

poultry products supplied to Hong Kong. "

 

According to the mainland authorities, nearly 10,000 ducks that died

of bird flu at farms around Panyu had been vaccinated against the

disease, sparking fears that the virus may have mutated.

 

Initial tests showed that the birds died of the highly pathogenic

H5N1 virus, which can be transmitted to humans. Chow said Hong Kong

will suspend all imports of live chickens, eggs and chilled and

frozen poultry meat from farms within a 24-kilometer radius of the

infected farms near Panyu.

 

Guangdong Animal Epidemic Prevention Center director Yu Yedong said

the outbreak was not due to vaccination problems.

 

" It was because there wasn't enough time for the vaccinations to

produce sufficient antibodies before the ducks caught the virus, and

most of the birds were baby ducks, " he said.

 

Health workers in Guangdong began culling 100,000 ducks within three

kilometers of the duck farms where the outbreak happened.

 

Mainland officials said the situation is " well under control " and

they have not detected anything abnormal. Chow explained that only

imports of poultry from around Panyu have been suspended as there are

no indications that the disease has spread to other areas. However,

import arrangements will be adjusted accordingly if needed to protect

public health.

 

The Hospital Authority said yesterday all public hospitals have been

placed on full alert for possible cases of avian flu in view of the

outbreak in Guangdong.