Top health official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region (HKSAR) on
Wednesday further explained to live poultry traders that the HKSAR
government had to reduce the number of imported chickens and the
live poultry population in Hong Kong in the wake of mounting risks
of an avian influenza outbreak.
During his meeting with 20 live poultry traders and members of
the Legislative Council, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
York Chow said the measures were introduced to protect public
health and guard against the disease from affecting Hong Kong.
Chow warned that an avian influenza outbreak would not only
jeopardize public health but also deal a severe blow to the whole
economy.
Earlier this month, a 32-year-old man in neighboring
Guangdong Province in southern part of the Chinese mainland
died of bird flu in Guangzhou, the provincial capital about 200
kilometers north of Hong Kong, sparking fears of possible avian
influenza outbreak in the region.
Hong Kong health authorities had decided to suspend live poultry
import from Guangdong Province shortly after the human death from
bird flu was confirmed in the province.
Chow said the HKSAR government would field staff to meet with
Guangdong officials next week before deciding on the resumption of
live poultry and birds supply upon confirmation that the public
health situation was normal.
He said the arrangement of capping the ceiling of live chicken
imports at 20,000 chickens per day would be reviewed in
mid-April.
As for the arrangement for live chicken imports during festive
periods, the HKSAR government would continue to handle it with
flexibility, having regard to the actual situation.
To reduce the risk of an epidemic outbreak through close contact
between humans and live poultry and ensure that culling operations
could be completed within the shortest possible time in the case of
an outbreak, the government had to reduce the total chicken
population in local farms to 2 million by May this year, Chow
added.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department would
continue to liaise with local chicken farms to discuss the details
of the arrangement.
"We understand the whole world still comes under the threat of
avian influenza," Chow said. "The Chinese mainland, Asia and other
parts of the world are reporting more and more cases of outbreak of
avian influenza among poultry."
"The government has already granted over HK$270 million
compensation and ex-gratia payment to the trade between 1997 and
2004. To further assist the trade, we have since July 2004 made
available nearly HK$600 million by phases to help traders who opt
for voluntary exit of the trade and cease operation permanently.
This covers live poultry farmers, wholesalers, retailers and
transporters.
"The government understands the development of a poultry
slaughtering plant might bring about some impacts on the live
poultry trade. We would try to balance different considerations,
including public health and the livelihood of the trade," he
said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2006)