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# 2055
http://afludiary.blogspot.com/
A little good news to start the week.
After a bird flu scare late last week, tests conducted at the remaining live markets in Hong Kong have failed to turn up any additional H5N1 infected chickens.
Authorities are still investigating how poultry at a live market in Hong Kong contracted the virus.
This Deutsche Presse-Agentur story from Monsters and Critics.
Health News
Bird flu fears recede in Hong Kong as markets are given all-clear (http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1410056.php/Bird_flu_fears_recede_in_Hong_Kong_as_markets_are_ given_all-clear)
Jun 9, 2008, 11:03 GMT
Hong Kong - Fears of a bird flu outbreak in Hong Kong were receding Monday after tests on all markets in the city of 6.9 million failed to find further traces of the H5N1 virus.
The former British colony went on bird flu alert Saturday after swabs taken at a market in the Shamshuipo district found traces of the virus that led to a deadly outbreak in Hong Kong 11 years ago.
The market was closed down, chickens from mainland China were banned and tests were ordered on all poultry markets in the city, a move which saw the sales of chickens plunge 30 per cent Sunday.
However, the government announced Monday that no traces of the virus had been found at any other market in the city or in farms in Hong Kong or in southern China.
(Cont.) (http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1410056.php/Bird_flu_fears_recede_in_Hong_Kong_as_markets_are_ given_all-clear)
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:28 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/all-clear-given-for-remaining-hong-kong.html)
# 2100
The controversy over the live poultry markets in Hong Kong continue, with the Hong Kong government enacting tougher rules and regulations in an attempt to eradicate the H5N1 bird flu virus.
While live chicken sales are banned until July 2nd, when they resume unsold chickens in market stalls must be culled at the end of each day.
Additionally, the government continues in their attempt to convince those engaged in the sale and distribution of live chickens to accept their compensation package in exchange for terminating their businesses.
This from News.gov.hk.
June 24, 2008
Avian flu
Unsold live chickens to be culled daily (http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/080624/txt/080624en05003.htm)
Unsold live chickens will banned from overnight stays at retail markets when chicken sales resume on July 2, while the Government will give more time for retailers, farmers, wholesalers and transport operators to consider a proposed compensation package to buy out their licences, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow says.
Dr Chow told the media today the Executive Council's decision has taken into account the trade's views and the risks of avian flu. As the bureau has been unable to trace the source of bird flu detected earlier in markets, enhanced measures are needed at the retail level when sales of live and chilled chicken resumes.
The Food Business Regulation will be amended to ban live chickens from markets and fresh food shops between 8pm and 5am. All unsold live chickens at stalls will have to be culled before 8pm each day.
Food & Environmental Hygiene Department officers will conduct daily inspections from July 2 through early August to ensure the live poultry trade abides by the law. Violators will be liable to a $50,000 fine and six months in jail. Their licence or tenancy can also be cancelled.
Compensation offer worth $1b
On the proposed compensation for voluntarily terminating business, Dr Chow said retailers have an extra month - until July 24 - to consider whether to accept. Retailers, farmers, wholesalers and transport operators have three months, until September 24.
He noted the package is worth about $1 billion - about three times the value of that for the voluntary surrender scheme handed down in 2004-05. The Government has also agreed to scrap the shop area cap, to allow larger stalls to get more compensation.
Dr Chow said discussions with the live poultry trade will continue.
The Government will also offer an ex-gratia payment of $30 in compensation for each of the 400,000 chickens at local farms affected by the 21-day sale suspension, Dr Chow added.
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 8:03 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/hong-kong-to-cull-unsold-chickens-daily.html)
#2057
Whenever the H5N1 bird flu virus shows up in an area where it is not known to be endemic, a question always arises.
Where did it come from?
For Hong Kong authorities, whose poultry has been free of the virus for many years, answering that question is crucial.
Did it arrive via wild migratory birds? Did it come from one of the chicken farms on the mainland that provide poultry to the region? Or, perhaps, was it brought in by illegal chicken smuggling operations.
This report from The Standard.
H5N1 fears on smuggled chickens (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/weekend_news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=67002&sid=19274742&con_type=1&d_str=)
Carol Chung
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Smuggled chickens may have been the cause of the latest outbreak of the bird flu virus.
The suspicions arose after the farms that supplied the three stalls at the center of the H5N1 outbreak cleared preliminary checks.
Customs officials said yesterday they are treating reports of smuggling seriously.
Officers also said they would be stepping up intelligence-gathering operations to prevent underground poultry shipments.
"We will collaborate with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in investigating the reported problem of smuggling at both the wholesale and retail levels," said Tam Yiu- keung, acting assistant commissioner of intelligence and investigation at the Customs and Excise Department.
AFCD assistant director of inspection and quarantine Thomas Sit Hon-chung added: "Invoices show the chickens that tested positive came from three local and six mainland registered farms.
"But checks at the three local farms showed no problems, and mainland inspection and quarantine authorities have also confirmed there are no problems with the six farms on their side."
Sit said more than 70 samples taken from farms, wholesale and retail markets all tested negative for H5N1. More tests will be conducted at local and mainland farms and the results will be out in a few days.
(Cont.) (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/weekend_news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=67002&sid=19274742&con_type=1&d_str=)
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:29 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/hong-kong-investigating-source-of-bird.html)
# 2060
What a difference a couple of days makes.
On Monday Hong Kong authorities were sounding the all-clear, saying that no other live markets tested positive for the virus.
Bird flu fears recede in Hong Kong as markets are given all-clear (http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1410056.php/Bird_flu_fears_recede_in_Hong_Kong_as_markets_are_ given_all-clear)
Jun 9, 2008, 11:03 GMT
Hong Kong - Fears of a bird flu outbreak in Hong Kong were receding Monday after tests on all markets in the city of 6.9 million failed to find further traces of the H5N1 virus.
That was then. This is now.
Hong Kong bird flu find prompts mass slaughter (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/11/bird.flu.ap/index.html)
HONG KONG (AP) -- Hong Kong officials say they plan to slaughter all live poultry in the territory's street markets after detecting the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Director Cheung Siu-hing said tests returned Wednesday showed birds infected in four markets.
Cheung has not said how many birds will be killed. She says the virus has not been detected in samples from local chicken farms and distribution centers.
Health workers killed 2,700 poultry on Saturday in a market after routine testing showed five chickens were infected with the virus.
The government has also temporarily banned supplies of all live poultry from mainland China and local farms.
Of particular concern is that these infected birds were discovered by routine testing, that no unusual bird die offs had been reported, raising the specter that these birds are asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:09 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/hong-kong-bird-flu-discovered-in-4.html)
# 2064
Authorities in Hong Kong want to know if poultry traders ignored, and failed to notify them of unusual bird deaths in the live markets.
Preliminary reports indicated that no such warning signs were reported, raising the specter of asymptomatic infections among Hong Kong's poultry.
While that possibility still exists, authorities are now looking at another plausible explanation :
That poultry traders simply didn't notify them of bird deaths.
This from AFP.
HK traders may have ignored bird flu warning signs (http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Asia/STIStory_247090.html)
June 12, 2008
HONG KONG - POULTRY traders in Hong Kong may have failed to promptly alert the authorities to a possible bird flu outbreak, the city's health secretary said on Thursday, following a mass cull of chickens.
An investigation team was now trying to identify why the H5N1 virus had gone undetected despite spreading to four wet markets across the territory, said York Chow, secretary for health, welfare, and food.
'It is possible that we were not told about these cases, which resulted in a delay to our investigation,' he told local broadcaster RTHK.
Live poultry traders are required to immediately report any dead chickens to authorities.
(Cont.) (http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Asia/STIStory_247090.html)
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 6:59 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/hong-kong-failure-to-communicate.html)
# 2141
Control measures to contain, and hopefully eradicate, the bird flu virus are often viewed as draconian by those affected. Culling, the ban on live poultry sales, and restrictions in movement or trade can all exact a heavy toll on the industry.
After last month's discovery of the H5N1 virus in environmental samples taken from four Hong Kong Markets, new rules were put in place regarding the sale of live birds.
Rules that have not been particularly popular.
Despite the protests of market sellers, customers, and some politicians . . . lawmakers have, so far, rejected calls to end the ban on keeping unsold live poultry overnight.
This from the Hong Kong Standard.
Lawmakers boot out bid to lift poultry ban (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=68499&sid=19747086&con_type=1&d_str=20080714&fc=1)
Carol Chung
Monday, July 14, 2008
Lawmakers have rejected a motion seeking to overturn a controversial bird flu control measure which bans vendors from keeping unsold live poultry overnight.
They said it was in the interests of public health.
League of Social Democrats' lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip sought to repeal the amended Food Business Regulation which bars vendors from keeping live poultry after 8pm.
Chan accused the government of using the ban to divert public attention from the problem of chicken smuggling.
"The government has suggested smuggled chickens can be a reason [for outbreaks of bird flu] but has not followed up on this. The public does not know whether the problem is smuggled chickens or the government's inability to nail down the problem," he said, referring to the discovery of the bird flu virus in four wet markets last June.
"If smuggled chickens are the cause of the bird flu problem, the overnight ban policy does not address the problem," Chan told the Legislative Council.
Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood's Frederick Fung Kin-kee supported the ban but agreed the policy did not target the root of the bird flu problem.
The Liberal Party's Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee suggested the ban could be used as a permanent solution to preserve the tradition of cooking live poultry.
Civic Party's Ronny Tong Ka-wah supported the policy, saying public health should be put before the industry's livelihood concerns.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the policy, which has been in place for more than 10 days, was working smoothly and did not have a negative impact on the industry.
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 9:24 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/07/hong-kong-politics-of-containment.html)
# 2070
Over the past 12 hours we've seen a handful of local news reports out of Hong Kong, machine translated into English, that seem to indicate they have hospitalized one or more suspected human cases of bird flu.
Frankly, machine translations - while interesting, are exceedingly difficult to decipher. They lack nuance, and the syntax can be baffling. They can sometimes alert us early to an emerging incident, but I am rarely comfortable quoting them as a reliable source.
Nonetheless, they can be an invaluable source of information, particularly from countries that are less than fully transparent.
A big hat tip to Treyfish on Flutrackers (http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/index.php) for digging up, and translating, these Chinese news items. He, along with other newshounds, do a terrific job monitoring these foreign news sources.
Today we get confirmation that at least part of this reporting has been correct.
This morning the Hong Kong government released the following statement, telling us that one person involved in the recent culling operations has been hospitalized and tested for the bird flu virus.
The rapid test reportedly came back negative, although the patient will remain hospitalized for the time being.
While it is likely that this patient is not infected with the H5N1 virus, the situation in Hong Kong bears watching.
This from news.gov.hk.
June 14, 2008
Prevention
FEHD staff's bird-flu test negative (http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/080614/txt/080614en05002.htm)
A Food & Environmental Hygiene Department staff member who felt unwell after participating in the recent chicken cull has tested negative in the bird flu quick-test, the department's Deputy Director Alice Lau says.
On a radio programme today, Ms Lau said the staff member was responsible for taking away the culled poultry, and is at Princess Margaret Hospital for further observation. No other colleagues concerned have reported sick.
On tracing the infection source for the bird flu found in four markets, she said inspections showed eight Mainland poultry farms were operating normally. Investigation of 10 others which supply live chickens to Hong Kong is ongoing.
The Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department also found chickens at local farms were all healthy.
In view of this, Ms Lau did not rule out the possibility of chicken smuggling, noting the proposal to prohibit unsold live chickens from being kept at markets overnight can break the virus accumulation and transmission cycle, and help deter smuggling through daily intake monitoring.
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:13 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/hong-kong-culler-tests-negative-for.html)
# 2127
A month after the discovery of the H5N1 virus in environmental samples taken from market stalls in Hong Kong, and the raising of their alert level to `Serious', the Secretary for Food and Safety has lowered the response level to `Alert'.
This from Xinhua News.
HK scales down avian flu response level to "alert" (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/09/content_8518434.htm)
www.chinaview.cn http://imgs.xinhuanet.com/icon/2006english/2007korea/space.gif 2008-07-09 18:07:03
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/09/content_8518434.htm#)
HONG KONG, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong York Chow Wednesday announced the scale down of the response level for avian influenza from "serious" to "alert".
After the detection of H5N1 avian influenza in environmental samples collected from poultry stalls in Po On Road Market, Sham Shui Po, on June 7, the government had raised the response level to "serious".
With more environmental samples from three other retail markets found to have the virus on June 11, live chicken trading in Hong Kong was suspended for 21 days.
The government implemented a ban on overnight stocking of live poultry in retail outlets when live chicken sales resumed on July 2 to reduce the risk of avian flu outbreaks.
The measure has been put into place for a week and market operations have been generally smooth, environmental hygiene with improved.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the government has collected samples from chicken farms, the wholesale market and retail outlets and tested them for H5N1 virus. All results were negative.
"The government has decided to scale down the response level after assessing the present risk posed by avian influenza, taking into account the above factors," Chow said.
He appealed to the public to remain vigilant and pay attention to personal and environmental hygiene in order to prevent avian flu.
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:26 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/07/hong-kong-lowers-response-level.html)
# 2081
More than a week after the discovery of 3 additional Hong Kong live markets affected by the H5N1 bird flu virus, there have still been no reported human cases.
A good sign, by any measure.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Health & Food, Dr. York Chow, tells us that the risk to humans from this outbreak is low - thanks to the city's safeguards against the disease.
If no human cases arise by next Wednesday, he is confident that human spread will have been avoided.
This from News.gov.hk
June 18, 2008
Avian flu
Human bird-flu threat low: Dr York Chow (http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/080618/txt/080618en05005.htm)
The risk of human cases of avian influenza in Hong Kong is low thanks to the city's safeguards against the disease. This was the message from Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow today in response to the bird flu outbreak at a Guangzhou duck farm.
He said the outbreak involves only one farm which is far from Hong Kong. However, as there is a poultry farm supplying Hong Kong within 13km of the outbreak, exports from the facility were suspended for three weeks yesterday.
Dr Chow said Hong Kong's surveillance system and vigilance greatly hinders the spread of bird flu to humans, so the risk posed to the city by the Guangdong outbreak is low.
Mainland authorities are examining whether there has been any changes to the virus or the ducks' immunity.
"If we do not find any human cases by the end of next Wednesday we will be quite confident there is no human spread," Dr Chow said.
"We are more worried about the subsequent arrangement, whether the existing chickens in the farms and those coming into the market will pose a threat. If that is the case I think we have to have more stringent measures for the markets so we can safeguard poultry workers as well as the public."
He said discussions with the trade about daily cleaning and culling at Hong Kong's markets are ongoing, adding retailers' calls for compensation for ceasing business will be studied.
posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:48 AM (http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/06/reassurances-from-hong-kong.html)
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