About 2,550 workers would lose their jobs if the city's poultry farms and live-chicken stalls are closed, the government said yesterday. Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok, who gave the estimate at a Legislative Council meeting, said the figure - and the government's buyout package - did not include chicken hatcheries or the feed industry. Meanwhile, the government announced the threat from bird flu fell from 'serious' to 'alert'.