Hong Kong officials intensify measures against H7N9

Imported live poultry to be tested at the Man Kam To Control Point.

According to a report, Mainland, Macau and Hong Kong officials decided at a meeting in Zhuhai yesterday to step up surveillance of live poultry and poultry products bound for Hong Kong, by increasing the sample size and frequency of farm inspections.

Representatives from the Food & Health Bureau, Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department, and the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department met representatives of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine, and those in charge of inspection and quarantine for Guangdong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Hainan, and Macau.

The meeting was called in response to the H7N9 avian influenza outbreak affecting people in the eastern region of the Mainland, and to ensure the safety of live poultry and poultry products supplied to Hong Kong.

To strengthen prevention and control measures against the virus, testing methods will be developed, testing standards and results will be validated, and technical training will be provided.

Since 2010, all live poultry and poultry products bound for Hong Kong have been tested for H5 and H7 avian influenza, and all 570,000 specimens have tested negative.

Hong Kong will soon begin conducting tests for H7 avian influenza in imported live poultry at the Man Kam To Control Point. Over 18,000 dead birds and 15,000 other specimens have been tested in the past three years, and no cases of the virus have been found.

The Government will continue to work closely with Mainland authorities and keep them informed of any infected birds, in which case poultry will be culled and Mainland poultry imports suspended to minimise the risk of an outbreak in Hong Kong.