Big drop in HK-raised chickens
The government has sharply reduced the number of chickens being raised in Hong Kong as part of its preventive actions against a bird flu pandemic, Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Cheuk Wing-hing told legislators yesterday.
He also said the government is pushing forward its plans for central slaughtering.
The local farm poultry population was down from 4 million last year to 1.7 million now, Mr Cheuk said.
As part of the measures to stem the spread of H5N1, poultry farmers, wholesalers and retailers were invited to surrender their licences in return for ex-gratia payments. By the August deadline, 146 farmers had applied to surrender their licences, as well as 14 of the 86 live-poultry wholesalers and 348 of the 814 live-poultry retailers, Mr Cheuk said.
He was outlining preparations for combating bird flu during a joint meeting with the Legislative Council food safety and health services panels yesterday.
Mr Cheuk said a centralised poultry slaughtering plant could separate humans from poultry as well as further reduce the risk of human infection with bird flu.
The government will invite tenders next year for construction of an abattoir in Sheung Shui. It will be able to handle 60,000 live chickens, 3,000 pigeons and other small poultry a day.
Mr Cheuk said the government had received advice that 'the most effective measure' against bird flu was centralised slaughtering.
He said the keeping of backyard poultry had been eliminated following a ban introduced in February. A total of 31 people had been granted exemptions to keep pet poultry.
A government paper presented to legislators said its bird-flu measures had been effective in preventing outbreaks in the city despite the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus in the region since late 2003.
