March 27, 2006

Hong Kong ends 3-week ban on live poultry imports from China

Hong Kong markets began selling live chickens on Monday from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong after health officials lifted a three-week ban on live poultry imports from the area because of bird flu fears.

About 20,000 live chickens were trucked in from Guangdong - a major source of food for Hong Kong - on Sunday and the birds went on sale Monday(Mar 27), the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said.

The ban began Mar 5 after China reported that a man died from bird flu in Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou, less than a two-hour train ride from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong decided to allow a resumption of live poultry imports because there were no more human cases or poultry outbreaks after the death, officials have said.

Hong Kong has not reported any human infections since early 2003 but has closely monitored outbreaks in mainland Chinese provinces because of the heavy human and poultry traffic between them.

More than 6,000 dead birds have been tested for bird flu in Hong Kong since late October last year, the government has said. Of those, two chickens and 14 wild birds were confirmed to have the H5N1 virus.