Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said on Wednesday that the Hong Kong government plans to have a joint drill with the Mainland for the prevention of avian flu.

After attending a conference about the business sector setting up contingency plans for avian flu pandemic, Chow said that Hong Kong and the Mainland plan to hold a cross border drill for the prevention of avian flu as there is no border for the outbreak of infectious diseases. But the time and detail of the drill is yet to be confirmed.

Chow also said that according to recent analysis by experts, some cases of human contracting H5N1 avian flu found in the world showed that the virus does not only invade the respiratory system but also other organs of the patients.

He said it is necessary to stock pile different kinds of drugs to cope with the needs rather than just stick to the kind that is mostly used by doctors at present for curing avian flu which can only help relieve respiratory symptoms.

Besides, Chow mentioned that in some cases of human contracting avian flu happened in the recent few months, the patients had not contacted with poultries before they got infected. Therefore, all should pay attention that there might be other routes of catching the virus.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2006)