Hong Kong - Poultry/animals/wild birds H5N1 Dec. 18, 2008 +

[Gert van der Hoek]

Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, December 9, 2008


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(12-09) 00:39 PST HONG KONG, China (AP) --

Three dead chickens tested positive for bird flu in Hong Kong, prompting the city to suspend poultry imports for 21 days and begin slaughtering 80,000 birds, an official said Tuesday.

"We feel that Hong Kong is facing a new alert for bird flu," said York Chow, secretary for food and health.

Chow said the chickens, found Monday at a farm with 60,000 birds, had the H5 virus and further tests were being done to see if they had the deadly H5N1 strain.

The farm and neighboring poultry operations were declared part of an infected zone, and about 80,000 birds in the area would be killed to prevent the spread of the disease, Chow said.

He added that the 21-day ban on poultry imports would last through the Christmas holiday, a time when chicken is an important dish in celebratory dinners.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/09/financial/f003931S71.DTL&type=health

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Bird flu found in Hong Kong chicken farm

HONG KONG (AFP) ? More than 80,000 chickens will be culled in Hong Kong after bird flu was found in a poultry farm, the first outbreak in a farm here in nearly six years, health authorities said Tuesday.

"We have discovered up to 60 dead chickens in that farm. After a series of tests we have confirmed this morning that the chickens did die from the H5 virus," health secretary York Chow told reporters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081209/wl_asia_afp/healthfluhongkong_081209084246

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Hong Kong to cull 80,000 chickens after H5 outbreak

09 Dec 2008

Source: Reuters

HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong health authorities said on Tuesday they would cull 80,000 chickens after a batch of chickens were confirmed to have the H5 birdflu virus.

The H5 birdflu strain is a low pathogenic avian influenza. Experts fear the more deadly H5N1 strain, which remains mainly an animal disease but has infected humans, could mutate to a form that spreads easily among people.

Hong Kong's Health Secretary York Chow said the affected farm was in Hong Kong's northern Yuen Long district near the border with China, which reported the unusual deaths of 60 chickens on Monday.

"After a series of tests, we have confirmed this morning that the chickens died from the H5 virus," Chow told reporters, adding three dead chickens were tested and 20 faeces samples were taken.

Chow also said that he had raised the alert status of avian flu to "serious" with immediate effect.

He said all 80,000 chickens within a 3 km radius of the farm would be destroyed. The last outbreak at a Hong Kong farm occurred in early 2003, Chow added.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG29719.htm

[Giuseppe]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Hong Kong to cull 80,000 chickens after H5 outbreak

09 Dec 2008

Source: Reuters

HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong health authorities said on Tuesday they would cull 80,000 chickens after a batch of chickens were confirmed to have the H5 birdflu virus.

The H5 birdflu strain is a low pathogenic avian influenza. Experts fear the more deadly H5N1 strain, which remains mainly an animal disease but has infected humans, could mutate to a form that spreads easily among people.

Hong Kong's Health Secretary York Chow said the affected farm was in Hong Kong's northern Yuen Long district near the border with China, which reported the unusual deaths of 60 chickens on Monday.

"After a series of tests, we have confirmed this morning that the chickens died from the H5 virus," Chow told reporters, adding three dead chickens were tested and 20 faeces samples were taken.

Chow also said that he had raised the alert status of avian flu to "serious" with immediate effect.

He said all 80,000 chickens within a 3 km radius of the farm would be destroyed. The last outbreak at a Hong Kong farm occurred in early 2003, Chow added.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG29719.htm

Low pathogenic?

Oh, this is a 'scoop'!

Unfortunately, the avian influenza in Hong Kong will be H5N1 HPAI, as further tests will confirm.

[Treyfish]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Not good news,but a good find, Dutchy!

[Treyfish]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Hong Kong reports H5 bird flu cases
HONG KONG -- Hong Kong top health official confirmed here Tuesday that a chicken farm at the New Territories had reported cases of the H5 avian influenza virus.
"Three dead chicken found at a chicken farm at Yuen Long district were H5 positive after our laboratory tests," York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said in a press conference.
It was Hong Kong's first case of H5 infection this winter and health authority has raised its vigilance level to "serious" after the suspected bird flu cases.
Chow said the HKSAR government had declared the areas within 3 kilometers near the farm an "epidemic spot" and ordered the culling of about 80,000 chickens located in the areas.
Two farms in the areas have been closed after the H5 cases and health authority had decided to suspend the imports of live poultry into the city and the trading of live poultry for 21 days starting Tuesday.
"Those staff in close contact with live poultry in the farms are in good health now without any syndromes of H5 infection," Chow said, "but we will closely monitor the situation."
He said the Food and Health Bureau had noticed all hospitals in the city to be on high alert and must report timely the possible suspected human cases of bird flu infection.
"I also call on the public to remain vigilant and keep their personal hygiene," he added http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7287379.htm[/FONT]

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Low pathogenic?

Oh, this is a 'scoop'!

Unfortunately, the avian influenza in Hong Kong will be H5N1 HPAI, as further tests will confirm.

Correct. Wire service report is almost certainly incorrect. H5 is just the initial result and the dead birds signal H5N1 as a final diagnosis.

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

HK orders bird slaughter amid new avian flu fears BIRD FLU
Lai Ying-kit
6:15pm, Dec 09, 2008 Hong Kong health officials on Tuesday afternoon ordered the slaughter of more than 90,000 live chickens after H5 bird flu virus was found in a local farm. It was the first outbreak reported in the city in nearly six years....

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2c913216495213d5df646910cba0a0a0/?vgnextoid=483e28f95560e110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=teaser&ss=Hong+Kong&s=News

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

80,000 birds to die in Hong Kong flu scare

• Dozens of birds found dead from bird flu at a farm in Hong Kong
• All chickens within 3 kilometer radius of the farm destroyed
• Health officials fear major outbreak of human version of the virus
• Next Article in Health »

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Authorities in Hong Kong ordered about 80,000 chickens killed Tuesday after discovering dozens of birds had died of bird flu at a farm in the territory.
The order requires all chickens within a 3 kilometer (2-mile) radius of the farm where the dead chickens were discovered Monday to be culled, said Dr. York Chow, Hong Kong's food and health secretary.
"We have discovered up to 60 dead chickens in that farm. After a series of tests, we have confirmed this morning that the chickens did die from the H5 virus," Chow told reporters.
One other farm is affected by the order, he said.
Health officials worldwide have long feared a major human outbreak of the H5N1 flu virus, which has infected numerous bird species in Asia, Europe and Africa. The disease has been passed from poultry to humans in some cases, resulting in more than 200 deaths since 2003.
Human-to-human transmission of avian flu is rare, but officials worry it could mutate and become a deadly pandemic.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/12/09/birdflu.china/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

DECEMBER 9, 2008, 6:16 A.M. ET Hong Kong to Cull Chickens After Detecting Bird Flu


By JONATHAN CHENG

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong health authorities said Tuesday they would slaughter 80,000 chickens after three dead birds tested positive for the H5 avian-flu virus. The outbreak, Hong Kong's first in six years, raises fresh questions about the city's efforts to prevent bird flu.
The news could also hit public sentiment as the financial center struggles with the economic impact of the global slowdown. The city, a special administrative region of China, fell into recession in the third quarter, and the city's leader warned this week that the territory faces a difficult 2009.
"Hong Kong is facing a new alert for bird flu," York Chow, Hong Kong's secretary for food and health, said Tuesday at a press conference, according to the Associated Press. Mr. Chow said the chickens were found Monday on a farm with 60,000 birds that has since been designated an infected zone. He added that Hong Kong would suspend poultry imports for 21 days and begin slaughtering 80,000 birds.
Officials said they hadn't yet determined if the virus they found was the H5N1 strain of bird flu that has proven deadly for humans. Still, the outbreak raises questions about how birds at the farm were infected.
Yi Guan, a microbiologist and avian flu expert at Hong Kong University, said Hong Kong has some of the highest safety standards in the region but warned of "leaking holes" in the system. "We have a high-tech biosecurity system," Mr. Guan said. "But how the farmer runs the farm is another story."
Mr. Guan said it would take scientists "a couple of days" to determine the particular strain of the virus, but warned that several strains within the H5 family of viruses could pose threats to humans.
In June, a routine inspection of an outdoor food market turned up five cases of avian influenza, spurring officials to slaughter chickens and suspend supplies of live chickens from local and mainland Chinese farms for three weeks. An investigation was launched to determine the source of that outbreak, but a government spokeswoman said Tuesday that the source of June's outbreak had "posed some difficulties" and wasn't yet determined.
So far, the disease's impact has been muted by its inability to easily pass from human to human. Since 2003, it has infected 383 people in 15 countries, including China, Indonesia and Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization. Of those confirmed cases, 63% have proved fatal. Scientists worry that the flu could mutate into a tougher and more contagious form.
Hong Kong has seen occasional bird-flu incidents but no major outbreaks since 1997, when the virus killed six people and led to a slaughter of the territory's 1.5 million birds. There are currently about 60,000 birds in Hong Kong, according to Hong Kong's government, which is discouraging vendors from selling live chickens.
The incident comes at a time of heightened scrutiny on food safety in the region. Hong Kong officials have been scrutinizing the city's food supply for signs of melamine, a toxic chemical that has been found in milk products and eggs from the mainland. Mr. Guan, the Hong Kong University microbiologist, said now would be a good time to review current safety standards.
"After this event, we will go and check to see whether the system is good or not, or if it can be improved," Mr. Guan said. "I think that will be the next topic to discuss."
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122881648406891161.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Bird flu found in Hong Kong chicken farm

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<ABBR class=recenttimedate title=2008-12-09T00:42:46-0800>2 hrs 48 mins ago</ABBR>
<!-- end .byline --><!-- end: .hd --> <CITE class=caption>AFP/File – File photo shows live chickens for sale at a market in Hong Kong. More than 80,000 chickens will be culled … </CITE>
<CITE class=caption></CITE>
<CITE class=caption>http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081209...lthfluhongkong</CITE>

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[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Bird flu found in Hong Kong chicken farm

<ABBR class=recenttimedate title=2008-12-09T00:42:46-0800>2 hrs 50 mins ago</ABBR>
<!-- end .byline -->HONG KONG (AFP) ? More than 80,000 chickens will be culled in Hong Kong after bird flu was found in a poultry farm, the first outbreak in a farm here in nearly six years, health authorities said Tuesday.
"We have discovered up to 60 dead chickens in that farm. After a series of tests we have confirmed this morning that the chickens did die from the H5 virus," health secretary York Chow told reporters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081209/wl_asia_afp/healthfluhongkong/print

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Low pathogenic?

Oh, this is a 'scoop'!

Unfortunately, the avian influenza in Hong Kong will be H5N1 HPAI, as further tests will confirm.

Yes, H5N1 is detected in wild birds at this time of year in Hong Kong. Bird watchers and conservationists have tried to blame religious ceremonies in the past (wild birds as victims), which release birds in January. However, in the past few years the H5N1 was detected too early to blame religious ceremonies.

Last year the H5N1 was the same clade 2.3.2 / 2.3.4 that subsequently appeared in whooper swans in Japan (as well as outbreaks in South Korea and Russia) in the spring.

This year the clade may be different because of clade 0 at Qinghai Lake over the summer, but there is little doubt that it will be H5N1 (with 60 dead chickens on the farm).

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Hong Kong to cull 80,000 chickens after H5 outbreak
09 Dec 2008
Source: Reuters

(Adds details and quotes)

HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong health authorities raised the city's avian flu alert to "serious" on Tuesday after some chickens at a farm were confirmed to have the H5 birdflu virus, prompting the cull of 80,000 chickens.

The H5 birdflu strain is a low pathogenic avian influenza. Experts fear the more deadly H5N1 strain, which remains mainly an animal disease but has infected humans, could mutate to a form that spreads easily among people.

Hong Kong health authorities did not rule out the possibility the virus might be H5N1, pending further tests.

The city's Health Secretary York Chow said the affected farm was in Hong Kong's northeastern Yuen Long district near the border with China, which reported the unusual deaths of 60 chickens on Monday.

"After a series of tests, we have confirmed this morning that the chickens died from the H5 virus," Chow told reporters, adding three dead chickens were tested and 20 faeces samples were taken.

Officers clad in masks, white medical suits and black rubber gloves began the mass culling of some 80,000 birds at the farm on Tuesday afternoon, and were shown stuffing piles of chicken carcasses into black bin bags.

Chickens at a second nearby farm would also be culled.

The scenes were reminiscent of previous mass cullings in 1997 and 2001, when the H5N1 virus prompted the slaughter of over one million birds each time. In the 1997 outbreak, six people died.

"The deaths (of the chickens) weren't on a mass scale like before but more scattered deaths. So far, not that many died," said Wong Yi-chuen, who worked at one of the stricken farms.

A precautionary three-week ban on poultry imports was also imposed to contain any potential spread of the virus.

"We will ban all the outlets of all chickens from our farms for 21 days and also suspend all the imports of chicken and poultry including birds for the next 21 days," Chow added.

All 80,000 chickens within a 3 km radius of the farms would be destroyed, along with some birds at a wholesale market, he added.

While Chow said the last birdflu outbreak at a Hong Kong farm occurred in early 2003, in June authorities found H5N1 at a poultry stall in one of the city's many wet markets which led to the culling of 2,700 birds.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP404817.htm

[HenryN]

Re: Hong Kong reports bird flu outbreak

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12090801/H5N1_HK_Farm.html