(CN) Bird flu virus

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

http://hongkong.scmp.com/

 

Bird flu virus originated in Hong Kong, insists mainland quarantine

official

STAFF REPORTER

 

Chickens from the mainland are not to blame for the bird flu

outbreaks that have been plaguing Hong Kong, a senior mainland official said

yesterday.

 

Responding to questions from reporters in Beijing, Li Changjiang,

director of the State Administration of Quality Supervision and Quarantine,

said the source of the outbreaks was in the special administrative region,

not the mainland, and the problem was therefore home-grown.

 

He insisted that mainland chickens sold in Hong Kong were safe to eat.

 

But when asked if he could produce any evidence to back up his

assertion, Mr Li said: " What I told you is evidence. "

 

The outbreak of H5N1 avian flu killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997.

 

Tens of thousands of chickens are sent to Hong Kong every day, mostly

from Guangdong. Mr Li accepted that the mutated avian flu virus had been

spotted on the mainland and that some chickens had tested positive.

 

But he gave an assurance that no infected chickens would be imported

into Hong Kong under the strict surveillance programme that had been

established.

 

Exported chickens come only from farms approved by the mainland

authorities. They have to undergo an H5 antibody test before they can be

sold in Hong Kong and will not be released to markets until the tests have

shown them to be clear.

 

However, some local chicken farmers have suggested the virus may have

come from the mainland, despite a lack of evidence.

 

The latest outbreak in Hong Kong came on December 1 when 31 ducks,

geese and swans died at Penfold Park in Sha Tin. The park was closed and the

remaining 50 birds there were slaughtered. However, Kowloon Park, five

poultry markets and two chicken farms have since been infected. The park

reopened this month.