1997 bird-flu bereaved blame Government for latest outbreak

Families who lost loved ones in the 1997 bird flu outbreak have blamed the Government for failing to stop this year's outbreak, which brought memories of their losses flooding back.

The father of Tse Man-si, 13, who died on December 21, 1997, of H5N1 infection, said he was devastated when the latest outbreak surfaced. Man-si was among the youngest victims of the bird flu, which infected 18 people and killed six. 'Man-si was a very good girl, I miss her so much. She is always in my thoughts,' said Mr Tse, who lives in Ma On Shan.

He said when the scenes of the latest chicken cull were shown on television last month, he and his wife were stunned. 'We didn't dare talk about it. We didn't want to recall all the unpleasant memories.'

Mr Tse blamed the Government for failing to stop the second outbreak. 'Everyone can see that our markets are still very dirty. The Government does not clean up the markets until there is an outbreak. All it has done is just window-dressing.'

Another victim of the H5N1 infection in 1997 was Lam Shuk-yi, 34. One of her relatives said: 'I feel sorry that Hong Kong has again been hit by bird flu. It is lucky that no one was killed this time.'

The latest outbreak also meant the return of a different kind of nightmare for staff from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. Last month, 720 department staff were mobilised for the 10-day cull, which ended on May 30. About 951,000 birds on more than 160 farms were killed. On average, each member of staff destroyed more than 1,320 birds. Some of the staff took part in the 1997 cull.