Government considers controls instead of closure if bird flu strikes; Despite cull order, chickens roam free in village where girl died
The government is set to backpedal on the pledge by health minister York Chow Yat-ngok that the borders will be sealed if a bird flu pandemic knocks on the door of Hong Kong.
This follows what a government source said last night was local and international concern about the enormous social and economic effects of such a move.
It also follows a denial by the Ministry of Health of a statement by Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu , who said earlier China would seal its borders if there was even one case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu.
The latest moves came as access remained tightly controlled to the Hunan village of Wantang where a girl died, although authorities said initial tests showed she did not have the deadly H5N1 virus.
Despite the controls - with entrances to the village tightly guarded to prevent outsiders, including reporters, from entering - chickens and ducks were still running freely inside the village and dead fowl could be seen lying in a field.
