Two leading influenza experts have been omitted from a special taskforce to investigate this month's bird flu outbreak that led to the slaughter of more than 870,000 chickens. Neither Professor Kennedy Shortridge nor Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, both from the department of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, have been appointed to the investigative team headed by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Director Thomas Chan Chun-yuen. Both scientists have been at the forefront of the battle against bird flu since Hong Kong's first outbreak in 1997 and are members of a separate government panel on bird flu. When the Government announced the deaths of diseased chickens at Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market on February 1 - without linking them to a possible bird flu outbreak - Professor Yuen, chair professor of microbiology at the university, already had warned the virus might strike again in Hong Kong. Professor Yuen refused to say whether he had been invited to join the taskforce and Professor Shortridge could not be reached for comment. The investigative team does include their colleague at the university, Professor Malik Peiris, another influenza expert. The six-member team will submit a report with recommendations to Secretary for Environment and Food Lily Yam Kwan Pui-ying in six weeks. Other members of the team are veterinarian Anthony Edward James; a member of the Government's advisory committee on agriculture and fisheries, David Lai Tat-sang; Deputy Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Liu Kwei-kin; and Deputy Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene Mak Sin-ping. An Environment and Food Bureau spokesman said there was 'a wide spectrum of representatives in the team'. After meeting with Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation officials yesterday, legislator Wong Yung-kan, representing the poultry sector, said all vehicles and visitors would be disinfected before entering farms. moy@scmp.com
