Bird Flu Hits Hong Kong Hard

Bird flu, also known as H5N1 strain of avian influenza, has resurfaced in Hong Kong, forcing the slaughter of live poultry across the city. The virus was detected over a week ago in chickens in the Kowloon area. Reports said this was the first outbreak among chickens in Hong Kong wet markets in five years. In an attempt to stop the spread, officials culled 2,700 animals in that neighborhood. But last week more cases were discovered at four markets in the New Territories and Hong Kong Island and on Wednesday, June 11, authorities ordered the slaughter of all remaining live poultry in markets and retail outlets. "We have announced that all market stores and fresh provision shops selling live poultry are now infected areas," said Cheung Siu-hing, director of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

According to Cheung, the order affects about 470 stores in 64 markets, and involves the culling of an estimated 3,500 birds. The order does not apply to poultry on farms in the special administrative region, where no infections have been found, and does not affect sales of pre-slaughtered poultry sold packaged in supermarkets. However, it does include a 21-day ban on all live chicken imports from mainland China, the main source of Hong Kong's poultry, as well as from local farms in the territory. York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health, said the possibility of extending the 21-day suspension will not be ruled out.

While no human cases of the virus have been reported in this outbreak, health officials "are closely monitoring" the situation and "will remain alert," Thomas Tsang, head of the government's health monitoring agency, told the Associated Press. Many experts fear the virus will mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, creating an epidemic. The last major bird flu outbreak in Hong Kong was in 1997, when the first human cases of the virus were reported. Six of the 18 people infected in that outbreak died and nearly 1.5 million birds were slaughtered. In 2007, Hong Kong authorities uncovered 21 cases of bird flu, and there have been several outbreaks in the territory this year, but only among migratory birds.

Since 2003, when the bird flu virus resurfaced in Asia, there have been 382 human cases worldwide, 241 of them fatal, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Indonesia, with 108 of the deaths, appears to be the hardest hit region.