Guangdong H5N1 case 'alarming'
Source of infection must be identified, HK scientist urges
A Hong Kong microbiologist has expressed concern over the first confirmed urban H5N1 infection on the mainland - in Guangzhou - particularly if evidence shows that the virus can no longer be controlled by existing vaccines.
Ho Pak-leung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, expressed concern over the 'significant and far-reaching impact' of the Guangdong H5N1 case. He said it was important to identify the source of the infection and to find out whether any infected poultry had been vaccinated.
'Vaccination of birds is one of the major preventive measures taken by Hong Kong, mainland and other Southeast Asian countries to lower the risk of H5N1 infections,' the microbiologist said.
'The situation would worsen if evidence shows that the virus can now negate [the effect of] the vaccines,' he said.
He said it was a mystery why the man had been infected when no outbreak had been reported among birds in Guangdong.
Speaking before yesterday's announcement of a three-week suspension of chicken supplies, Li Changjiang , the director of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said mainland authorities had discussed Hong Kong's poultry supplies with the city's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.
'The poultry farms that supply chickens to Hong Kong have yet to report any bird flu outbreaks, so our supply to Hong Kong should be safe.'
Hong Kong's poultry sector warned that it would create 'unnecessary' panic if the government cut or banned chicken imports from the mainland.
Hong Kong Poultry Wholesalers and Retailers' Association chairman Steven Wong Wai-chuen said that supplies from the mainland should be maintained at no less than 20,000 birds a day - a cut of no more than 10,000.
He said local farms normally supplied no more than 20,000 chickens, which was insufficient to meet demand.
'A complete ban or big cut in supplies from the mainland would create not only a serious shortage but even public panic ... We believe that what has happened in Guangdong is only an individual case and the government should not overreact,' Mr Wong said.
Peter Wong Chun-kow, president of the local branch of the World Poultry Science Association, also believed that the Guangdong infection was only an 'individual case' and that the level of bird flu infection in humans was low.
Meanwhile, backyard poultry farmers yesterday staged a protest in Central against the government for confiscating their poultry without compensation.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said that it had confiscated about 300 backyard birds. The department said it would continue to carry out regular inspections at local farms.
