January 12, 2012

Hong Kong is downgrading the current bird flu warning from 'serious' to an 'alert' level from Thursday (Jan 12).

That paves for the way for the importing and trading of live poultry from the mainland, as well as local farms.

The sale of live chicken was suspended for three weeks after a dead chicken was discovered at the local wholesale market, infected with the H5N1 virus.

Hong Kong's Health Secretary York Chow revealed that Hong Kong scientists found no evidence of mutation or any mass outbreak from across the border.

According to the scientists, the strain of virus that Hong Kong has in the last two to three years is also similar to the genetic make-up of the virus discovered by the patient in Shenzhen by Chinese authorities.

The lifting of the 21-day ban will be welcomed by many as Lunar New Year festivities are around the corner.

But the government does not intend to raise the cap on imported poultry, currently at 7,000 birds daily.

In the past, bird flu was detected when there was an increase to supply.