China to cull 20,000 chickens to stop spread

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(AP photo/Kin Cheung)
(AP photo/Kin Cheung)

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong banned live chicken sales and will cull about 20,000 birds at a wholesale market after a sample imported from mainland China tested positive for the H7N9 avian influenza virus.

The 21-day halt of live-poultry sales comes two days before families traditionally hold feasts on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Shanghai is halting the sales of live poultry from the first day of the Chinese New Year, according to a Jan. 27 statement on the local government’s microblog.

Hong Kong is seeking to keep local cases of the disease from spreading via chickens arriving from China, which supplies most of the former colony’s food. The H7N9 strain of bird flu has infected 96 people in China this year, killing 19, the mainland’s official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday, citing the Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention.

Hong Kong’s government will close the market for 21 days, until Feb. 18, for cleaning and disinfection and will suspend imports for the same period from the farm that provided the chicken, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said in a Jan. 27 news release.

Poultry workers

The poultry worker responsible for transporting the consignment of live chickens tested negative for the H7N9 virus in preliminary findings, according to a government statement. A total of 95 other contacts comprising 11 staff members of Man Kam To Animal Inspection Station, 35 poultry workers at Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market and 49 workers involved in the culling operation have also been identified as of 4 p.m. They were put under medical surveillance and health advice was given.

Human cases of H7N9 were first reported in China in March and spiked in April before agriculture authorities temporarily closed live poultry markets to limit human exposure. The disease can’t yet pass easily among people.

Even though H7N9 hasn’t mutated to become as contagious as seasonal flu, strains that emerge in China are of interest to researchers. The 1957-58 Asian Flu and 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu pandemics were first identified in the world’s most populous nation. Another bird-flu strain known as H5N1 is thought to have come from the southern province of Guangdong in 1996.

Festive meals

Human infections may rise further during Lunar New Year celebrations, when millions of people are expected to travel and households will slaughter poultry for festive meals, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Jan. 20. The Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 31 this year.

Laboratory experiments using ferrets -- the most common animal model for human flu infections -- have shown that the H7N9 virus is capable of spreading from person to person. Some small family clusters have been reported, though in December the World Health Organization said it hadn’t seen any evidence of sustainable human-to-human transmission.

H7N9 has turned up outside mainland China, in locations such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. It can circulate widely in chickens, ducks and geese without causing the mass die-offs characteristic of the better-known H5N1 virus. The germ is typically more active during the colder winter months, scientists have said.

Increased inspections

Hong Kong will step up inspections as poultry accumulates at local producers because of the market closure, Ko said yesterday. The measures are part of the government’s contingency plan to stop the spread of the virus, and China’s central government will investigate to ensure mainland farms are following biosecurity measures, he said.

In 1997, the government ordered all poultry in Hong Kong to be culled. Many families in rural areas kept chickens in backyard wood-and-wire hutches that can still be seen lying empty and rusting in villages across the territory. Ducks, geese and pigeons are also widely eaten in Hong Kong.

The last time the government slaughtered and banned import of live poultry was in December 2011, after the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus was found in a chicken carcass at a wholesale market.

--With assistance from Eleni Himaras in Hong Kong. Editor: Andrew Davis

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waterboy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: January 21 2008 Status: Offline Points: 8170	Post Options Post Reply Quote waterboy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: China to cull 20,000 chickens to stop spread Posted: January 29 2014 at 10:29am
	http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/01/29/hong-kong-to-kill-20000-chickens-to-fight-h7n9-flu?ref=rss Sharing Services 0 (AP photo/Kin Cheung) (AP photo/Kin Cheung) (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong banned live chicken sales and will cull about 20,000 birds at a wholesale market after a sample imported from mainland China tested positive for the H7N9 avian influenza virus. The 21-day halt of live-poultry sales comes two days before families traditionally hold feasts on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Shanghai is halting the sales of live poultry from the first day of the Chinese New Year, according to a Jan. 27 statement on the local government’s microblog. Hong Kong is seeking to keep local cases of the disease from spreading via chickens arriving from China, which supplies most of the former colony’s food. The H7N9 strain of bird flu has infected 96 people in China this year, killing 19, the mainland’s official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday, citing the Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention. Hong Kong’s government will close the market for 21 days, until Feb. 18, for cleaning and disinfection and will suspend imports for the same period from the farm that provided the chicken, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said in a Jan. 27 news release. Poultry workers The poultry worker responsible for transporting the consignment of live chickens tested negative for the H7N9 virus in preliminary findings, according to a government statement. A total of 95 other contacts comprising 11 staff members of Man Kam To Animal Inspection Station, 35 poultry workers at Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market and 49 workers involved in the culling operation have also been identified as of 4 p.m. They were put under medical surveillance and health advice was given. Human cases of H7N9 were first reported in China in March and spiked in April before agriculture authorities temporarily closed live poultry markets to limit human exposure. The disease can’t yet pass easily among people. Even though H7N9 hasn’t mutated to become as contagious as seasonal flu, strains that emerge in China are of interest to researchers. The 1957-58 Asian Flu and 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu pandemics were first identified in the world’s most populous nation. Another bird-flu strain known as H5N1 is thought to have come from the southern province of Guangdong in 1996. Festive meals Human infections may rise further during Lunar New Year celebrations, when millions of people are expected to travel and households will slaughter poultry for festive meals, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Jan. 20. The Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 31 this year. Laboratory experiments using ferrets -- the most common animal model for human flu infections -- have shown that the H7N9 virus is capable of spreading from person to person. Some small family clusters have been reported, though in December the World Health Organization said it hadn’t seen any evidence of sustainable human-to-human transmission. H7N9 has turned up outside mainland China, in locations such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. It can circulate widely in chickens, ducks and geese without causing the mass die-offs characteristic of the better-known H5N1 virus. The germ is typically more active during the colder winter months, scientists have said. Increased inspections Hong Kong will step up inspections as poultry accumulates at local producers because of the market closure, Ko said yesterday. The measures are part of the government’s contingency plan to stop the spread of the virus, and China’s central government will investigate to ensure mainland farms are following biosecurity measures, he said. In 1997, the government ordered all poultry in Hong Kong to be culled. Many families in rural areas kept chickens in backyard wood-and-wire hutches that can still be seen lying empty and rusting in villages across the territory. Ducks, geese and pigeons are also widely eaten in Hong Kong. The last time the government slaughtered and banned import of live poultry was in December 2011, after the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus was found in a chicken carcass at a wholesale market. --With assistance from Eleni Himaras in Hong Kong. Editor: Andrew Davis

Technophobe Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450	Post Options Post Reply Quote Technophobe Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: January 29 2014 at 11:08am
	However they might need to consider budgies too. This comes from new scientist mag: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129542.000-budgies-may-be-behind-latest-spread-of-h7n9-bird-flu.html#.UulQ57RAh4o THE humble budgie has become an unexpected menace in the latest H7N9 bird flu outbreak. H7N9 emerged in south-east China last March, infecting 136 people. It returned in October, infecting 116 more. Nearly a third of those infected have died. The virus cannot spread readily between people, and most cases are linked to live poultry markets. But now Jeremy Jones at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee and colleagues in China report that budgies, finches and sparrows can contract H7N9. They can shed enough virus from their beaks into drinking water to infect other birds (Emerging Infectious Diseases, doi.org/q8d). These species are popular pets in China, especially for older men, who have disproportionately contracted H7N9. They also figure in Buddhist ceremonies in which birds are kissed then released. Meanwhile, another virus has emerged from the Chinese poultry industry. H10N8 killed an elderly woman last year, and now a younger woman is critically ill. This article appeared in print under the headline "Beware the budgie"
	How do you tell if a politician is lying? His lips or pen are moving.

chickenlover Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote chickenlover Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: January 29 2014 at 11:11am
	Wild birds are spreading this, culling will do very little in the way of stopping this virus from running its course. With it not killing birds, the conditions in china and its ability to mutate easily this will be a wait and see scenario. These things have their place in nature and China is long overdue for a wake up call.