Hong Kong Officials Find New Case of Bird Flu

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Source: The Star Online, 18 Dec 2002 [edited]

<http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/12/18/latest/9219HongKong & s\

ec=latest>

 

Hong Kong Officials Find New Case of Bird Flu

------------------Health

officials said samples from several chickens found

dead in a poultry shop on Wed, 18 Dec 2002 tested

positive for avian flu in the second outbreak of the

viral disease this month.

 

A probe will be conducted to determine whether more

than 20 chickens from the retail outlet on Hong Kong's

rural Lantau Island had the same strain of virus that

once killed 6 people here, authorities said.

 

As a precaution, 60 other birds from the shop were

immediately slaughtered, the Food and Environment

Hygiene Department said in a statement. Officials also

ordered the shop closed Thu, 19 Dec 2002 for

disinfecting, it said.

 

Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Jockey Club found 31

dead birds in a park in the center of a horse track.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department

found 2 geese among the dead birds that tested

positive for avian flu.

 

It remained unclear whether the geese contained the

deadly H5N1 virus, which crossed over from birds to

humans in 1997 and prompted officials to slaughter all

1.4 million chickens in Hong Kong. Officials have

since held mass poultry slaughters and imposed

stricter hygiene standards on the industry.

 

Many Hong Kong people prefer to buy their poultry live

in markets, where chickens are packed into cages as

they wait to be slaughtered on the spot so customers

can take them home as fresh as possible.

 

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