Hong Kong government said Tuesday that the special
administrative region has suspended the imports of poultry and
poultry meat from Hunan Province since bird flu outbreak in the
province had been confirmed.
A spokesman for the Health, Welfare and
Food Bureau (HWFB) announced that in view of a confirmed H5N1
avian influenza outbreak in Hunan
Province, Hong Kong had suspended the processing of
applications for the importation of poultry and poultry meat from
Hunan Province with immediate effect.
"The HWFB received notification from the Ministry of Agriculture
of the Mainland this afternoon, of a H5N1 avian influenza outbreak
among poultry in a village in Hunan Province. We understood that a
total of 687 chickens and ducks showed signs of illness, of which
545 died," the spokesman said.
The spokesmen said there were no imports of poultry meat and
live birds from Hunan Province but should there be any such
applications, they would be withheld from processing of them for
the time being to ensure food safety.
In addition, the spokesman noted that there had been avian
influenza cases in Turkey, Romania and Croatia. He added that there
had been no imports of live birds or poultry meat from these three
countries into Hong Kong since no import protocols had been
established for the importation from these sources.
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2005)