April 9, 2013

A new test to detect the presence of H7N9 virus on live poultry will be introduced in Hong Kong, said Food and Health Secretary, Dr Ko Wing-man.

The test, which could come this week, will be designed to get results in just a few hours, he added. It's a quick turnaround compared with four days for the current H7 test, which Ko said, is insufficient.

All live chickens in Hong Kong - including those being raised locally or imported from the mainland on a daily basis - should undergo the test before sales, he said.

The mainland has culled more than 98,000 poultry and instituted a ban on public contact with pigeons. Twenty-one cases of the avian flu have been reported, and six of the victims have died.

On April 8, a spokesman for the World Health Organisation said that in Beijing, there is no proof that the new strain of bird flu is being transmitted between people, despite several members of a family falling ill in Shanghai.

Ko previously said Hong Kong could not rule out the possibility of an outbreak in the city.

"We have to be prepared that H7N9, no matter if it's in poultry or humans, may appear in Hong Kong. The possibility can't be excluded," he cautioned.