1,000 DEAD CHICKENS IN HONG KONG SPARKS BIRD FLU FEARS

December 30, 2002

December 28, 2002

Agence France Presse English

HONG KONG - More than 1,000 chickens were, according

to this story, found dead at a Hong Kong poultry farm

on Saturday, reigniting fears the bird flu that can

also kill humans was set to spread across the

territory again.

A government spokesman was cited as saying that

initial tests from the infected farm showed the

chickens had the H5 avian virus, a strain of which

killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997.

He was further cited as saying that chickens from the

Ta Kwu Ling farm in the New Territories had been

delivered to a wholesale market as late as the

Christmas holiday on Wednesday, but added there was no

danger to consumers, adding, " Members of the public

can continue to eat well cooked chickens without

worrying about contracting the disease because avian

influenza will not be passed on to human beings

through food consumption. The public should avoid

contact with swaps of chickens, and should clean their

hands thoroughly after making contact with chickens. "

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation department

was cited as saying tests showed that six sick and 12

dead birds found in waterfowl ponds in Kowloon park

had contracted potentially-deadly avian flu.

However it was unclear whether the birds were carrying

the same strain of the H5 avian virus responsible for

the 1997 human deaths.

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