March 31, 2006

Live poultry sales to be banned in Hong Kong in three years

Hong Kong aims to ban the sale of live poultry in markets within three years in order to avert an outbreak of bird flu, said chief executive Donald Tsang on Mar 30.

The political leader said although Hong Kong was closely monitoring the spread of the bird flu in China, the territory should also remain on guard for a possible outbreak at home.

Part of Hong Kong's preventive measures include the setting up of a central slaughterhouse in the rural New Territories, from where chicken meat will be distributed to retail outlets.

The move also includes the closing down of hundreds of stalls in public markets where the slaughtering of chickens presently takes place.

Hong Kong has mulled over the scheme since an outbreak of the H5N1 virus there in 1997 killed six people and caused more than two million poultry to be culled.