Livestock & Feedstuffs

H5N1 case in Shenzhen confirmed

Now there's no shade of doubt. The Ministry of Health had sent a notification last night confirming the human infection of avian flu in Shenzhen. The Hong Kong SAR government has decided to suspend live poultry imports from the mainland for three weeks starting today.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) announced last night that it had received a notification from the Ministry of Health that the 31-year-old truck driver being treated in Donghu Hospital in Shenzhen had contracted the H5N1 avian flu.
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said that in view of the confirmed H5N1 human case in Shenzhen, Hong Kong would suspend the import of live poultry and birds from the mainland for three weeks from today. However, the supply of mainland chilled and frozen poultry meat will continue.
"The import suspension is a preventive measure. So far, no problem has been spotted on the mainland poultry and the poultry products for supply to Hong Kong," he said. "We consider that it is necessary to suspend live chicken import for the sake of safety and also to give time to the relevant authorities to conduct full investigation."
He promised that the import of live poultry would resume if no more human cases were found and that no avian flu outbreaks occurred in the chicken farms in Guangdong Province, especially in Shenzhen.
He also assured the public that the relevant bureau and departments had stepped up preventive and control measures against the disease. They include a series of surveillance and public education measures:
The CHP has asked all the doctors and public and private hospitals to report suspected avian flu cases.
The Hospital Authority (HA) has activated an Enhanced Surveillance Programme whereby all public hospitals have to report to HA in case of any pneumonia of unidentified aetiology through HA's reporting system on the Internet. Public Hospitals have also set up segregated zones in Accident and Emergency Department and general out-patient clinics to monitor and manage the patients with infection symptoms.
To enhance import control, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has increased the number of imported live poultry sampled for rapid tests of H5 virus by 50 per cent. At the retail level, FEHD will strengthen inspection and enforcement action. Live poultry retailers are reminded of the need to observe operational guidelines to prevent avian influenza.
On the port health measures, the DH will maintain temperature screening for in-bound travellers at all immigration control points. Travellers who are symptomatic with history of possible exposure to the avian flu virus will be referred to hospitals for follow-up.
The Customs and Exercise Department (C&ED) has stepped up its surveillance work at all the border control points to combat illegal import of poultry into Hong Kong. Inspections of suspected cargoes and passengers' baggage have been intensified at all the border control points. The department will also conduct joint enforcement actions with its counterparts on the mainland from time to time to combat poultry smuggling at the border.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will step up inspection on the local poultry farms and has issued advisory letters asking the farmers to remain vigilant on the farm bio-security measures. The AFCD has also issued advisory letters to the fishermen asking them not to bring any live poultry, live birds or bird carcasses into Hong Kong. The department will intensify inspection on the backyard poultry farms for the next three weeks and will increase cleansing activities at the Cheung Sha Wan Poultry Wholesale Market. Moreover, the AFCD will continue to monitor the H5 virus in dead wild birds.
The government will also step up public education to remind people, especially those who travel frequently to and from Shenzhen, to stay vigilant and maintain good environmental and personal hygiene in order to avoid contracting the disease.
Describing the situation as "alarming" epidemiologist Lo Wing-lok said: "The Shenzhen authority should conduct random poultry checks in the area where the truck driver was living to see if the animals were healthy. Blood and faeces samples of the poultry should be collected for testing. This will help getting a better understanding of the situation," he said.