Hong Kong poultry wholesalers threaten boycott after bird flu cull
Wholesalers may stop sales in protest at temporary delivery arrangements they claim 'will not work' after second virus scare of year
Fresh chicken could be off the menu for at least 21 days after the city's latest bird flu scare sparked a row between wholesalers and the government over delivery arrangements for live poultry.
Watch: Hong Kong culls 15,000 chickens after bird flu alert
The dispute broke out yesterday, as health officials carried out the grim task of culling all 19,000 birds at Cheung Sha Wan wholesale market, the second mass cull of the year. The cull, along with a three-week ban on imports, was announced in a dramatic 1.30am press conference by health minister Dr Ko Wing-man after samples from a farm in Huizhou , Guangdong, tested positive for the deadly H7N9 strain of the virus.
All trade in live chickens will be halted for several days as health officials inspect local farms, although no cases of bird flu have been found in locally bred chickens so far.
But the nine local poultry wholesalers are threatening to cease trading until imports resume unless the government rethinks an arrangement under which all local chickens are gathered for inspection at Ta Kwu Ling while the Cheung Sha Wan market is disinfected.