Hong Kong on alert for both flu and bird flu

Mar 17 2008

Hong Kong has suspended live poultry imports from the mainland following another outbreak of bird flu in the neighbouring region of Guangdong.

Authorities are now on full alert for both human and avian flu outbreaks.

The outbreak occurred at a poultry market in the southern city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on March 13th.

The outbreak killed off 108 birds and prompted the culling of another 518; the Ministry of Agriculture says the outbreak has been effectively controlled.

Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department are sending an inspection team to the province's registered farms that supply poultry to the territory and have confirmed there are no chicken farms that supply Hong Kong within a 13-kilometer radius of the market in Foshan where 2,000 chickens were culled.

This latest outbreak comes as authorities in Hong Kong have closed kindergartens and primary schools for two weeks to contain a seasonal flu outbreak which has already claimed the lives of three children.

The Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection has confirmed a 12th influenza case involving a two-year-old girl with influenza B who was admitted to Tseung Kwan O Hospital on Thursday; she is now in a stable condition.

A Chinese expert warned last week that the H5N1 bird flu virus was mutating, and urged vigilance at a time when seasonal human influenza is at a peak.

Experts have always feared that should a seasonal flu mix with the deadly H5N1 strain the result would be a pandemic which could kill millions.

Hong Kong's Food and Health Bureau say live poultry and poultry products are now banned from the infected zone of 13 kilometres (8 miles) radius from the infected area for 21 days.

According to World Health Organisation though there have been only 372 known human infections worldwide since 2003, the virus's mortality rate is a concern with at least 235 people dead from the virus.

In China of the 30 human bird flu cases, 20 have died, including three this year.

China has the world's biggest poultry population with millions of birds reared in backyards and China is considered crucial in the fight against the disease.

Calls have gone out for everyone to be vigilant against the spread of the disease and the public are being urged to maintain good hygiene and consult a doctor promptly in cases of fever or coughs and avoid going to work if advised by doctors.