January 22, 2004

No Threat In Hong Kong Despite Bird Flu-Stricken Falcon

A dead falcon in Hong Kong tested positive for bird flu Wednesday, prompting officials to step up surveillance at local chicken farms although they said the public was in no danger.

The peregrine falcon had the deadly H5N1 virus, which crossed over from chickens to humans in Hong Kong in 1997 and killed six people.

Hong Kong authorities were conducting more tests to try to determine what killed the falcon, which was found by conservation officers in the suburban New Territories. Officials checked chickens in the area but detected no problems.

A recent H5N1 outbreak in Vietnam has killed at least five people, while some 2.4 million chickens either died from the disease or were slaughtered in an effort to eradicate it.

Hong Kong ordered the disinfection of a wholesale poultry market and urged local chicken farmers to be alert, but officials said the measures were intended to keep local chickens healthy and there was no cause for alarm.

"The presence of H5N1 virus in the peregrine falcon poses no immediate threat to public health," said Lai Ching-wai, assistant director of inspection and quarantine at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

Conservation officials said peregrine falcons are found mostly in southern and southeast Asia, and they rarely appear in Hong Kong.

A Hong Kong father and son caught avian influenza from birds in February 2003 and the father died.

As Hong Kong stays on the lookout for the virus, officials plan to collect excrement from wild birds over this week's Chinese New Year holiday to test it for the disease.