March 26, 2014

World Health Organisation proposes ban of China's live poultry sale

In order to prevent the spread of diseases such as bird flu, China should consider banning live poultry sale altogether, according to the director general of the World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, formerly Hong Kong's director of health.

She also said that the regional culture of eating fresh chicken would have to evolve to help governments fight the diseases.

In her keynote address on infectious diseases delivered in Hong Kong at a conference on investment in Asia, Chan said that so far there has been no global pandemic of H5N1 and H7N9 bird flu. But she warned of the "amazing ability" the viruses had to mutate, making them harder to control.

Unsustainable food production methods, such as overcrowding livestock, have been contributing to the spread of infectious diseases. Wet markets in particular have become breeding grounds for new strains of viruses and hotspots for infection, Chan said.

She added that the Chinese government should consider halting live poultry sales in the country.

Wet markets selling live poultry are not common in many parts of the world, but in Hong Kong and parts of southern Asia there is still an appetite for fresh chicken, she said. Chan also said she believes the Hong Kong government is trying to encourage a change in that culture.

WHO has been monitoring occurrences of diseases in different parts of the world, including analysing online posts to search for rumours and early indications of an outbreak, she said. She also stressed the importance of tackling the rise of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs".

With more bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, hospitals have become hotbeds of bacterial infection, she said. If the current trend continues, the world may be going back to a period when no effective drugs are available to treat infections, Chan warned.