Hong Kong looked set to ban poultry imports from
southern China Thursday after tests revealed that a 31-year-old
man was critically ill with bird flu
in the neighbouring Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Health officials in Shenzhen confirmed Wednesday that the man was
suffering from the H5N1 virus.
Hong Kong was awaiting official confirmation from Beijing Thursday
before taking action on the ban.
The man was believed to have visited a livestock market near his
home in Shenzhen and eaten slaughtered chicken before becoming ill
and going to hospital on June 3.
But the World Health Organisation said so far no direct link had
been found between the man and infected poultry and questioned were
still left unanswered.
The case, if it is confirmed, would be China's 19th case of a human
bird flu infection. Twelve of the cases have so far proved fatal.
Shenzhen lies on the border with Hong Kong and is the busiest border
crossing point between Hong Kong and the mainland, with thousands
of commuters passing through it every day.
China is the main supplier of live chickens to the densely populated
former British colony, numbering about 30,000 coming into the city
of 6.8 million.
Hong Kong announced Wednesday it had strengthened its bird-flu
controls as a "preventative measure" in response to the
suspected outbreak.
A spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said no problems
had been found with imported poultry or the registered farms over
the border. But he said the ban would prevent a build-up of live
poultry at markets caused by poor sales in light of the Shenzhen
case.
He said once the case was confirmed by Beijing, the ban would cover
live poultry, day-old chicks and pet birds from the Guangdong province
for 21 days.
"Hong Kong would resume the import of live poultry if no more
human cases were found and no H5 avian influenza outbreaks had occurred
in chicken farms in Guangdong and Shenzhen," he said.
