Macau proceeds with slaughter
The slaughter of 40,000 birds continued in Macau yesterday after the detection of the H5N1 virus in two geese imported from the mainland on Friday.
The cull started on Taipa Island on Friday night and was expected to be completed by last night. Initially, government officials had given an estimate of 20,000 birds.
Inspectors from the Macau Health Bureau confirmed the presence of the virus in two samples on Friday afternoon.
The culled poultry, including chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and quail, were taken for disposal to Macau's incineration plant on Taipa.
'We expect the cull to be completed before Sunday,' a spokesman for the Macau Government Information Bureau said, adding the authorities had suspended the import of all poultry from the mainland for a week.
Poultry hawkers yesterday said they welcomed the authorities' decision to take swift action.
'The sale of live chickens and other poultry decreased a lot a few days ago because of the chicken flu scare in Hong Kong,' poultry store owner Carlos Leung said. 'It's the right thing to act quickly so that we can start again after one week.'
Mr Leung said the official compensation of $28 per culled chicken was 'just all right'.
Most poultry on sale in Macau is imported from China.
