"Following a meeting with our expert group this morning, we have decided to reopen our Poultry Wholesale Market this coming Friday, on June 15," the Secretary for the Environment and Food Lily Yam said.

The retail outlets will begin to sell live chickens as from June 16, Yam said.

The Hong Kong government ceased the live poultry sales and ordered the slaughtering of all the chickens and other poultry, with a total number surpassing one million, in Hong Kong, after the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in May.

Yam said the chickens put in 13 markets to test the presence of viruses are all tested negative over the past few weeks and there are no more viruses in the poultry retail outlets.

Yam said the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will take measures to prevent the disease, including carrying out thorough cleansing and disinfecting at the poultry retail market on the 25th of each month.

(Xinhua 06/11/2001)