Avian flu ’endemic’ Hong Kong& S.China

[February 03, 2006]     

Bird flu now endemic in southern China including H.K.+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)HONG KONG,
Feb. 3_(Kyodo) _ Bird flu is now endemic among wild birds in the
southern region in China, including Guangdong Province and Hong Kong,
the territory's health chief said Friday.

Health, Welfare and Food Secretary York Chow, however, said that the risk
of humans contracting the H5N1 virus from infected birds is still limited.

"H5N1 is already an endemic virus among the avian population in the
southern Chinese region and this is the reason why we try to have a
policy to ensure that the virus would not be passed from wild birds to
chickens," Chow said at a press conference.



It is the first time that any health official in Hong Kong or Guangdong has
confirmed that bird flu has become endemic in the region.

The Hong Kong government will enact a law that bans farming of less
than 20 birds as early as next week. Currently, raising less than 20 birds
does not require a license.

Once the law is passed, only licensed poultry farms will be allowed to
raise chickens, ducks, geese, quails, pigeons and turkeys.

The maximum penalty for violating the law will be HK$100,000 ($12,900)
in fines.

A chicken smuggled in from China by a Hong Kong man last week died
earlier this week and tested positive for the virulent H5N1 virus. The man
kept the chicken for five days in his home in northern Hong Kong's Sha
Tau Kok area, which borders China's Shenzhen city.

Two oriental magpie robins were also tested positive for the deadly virus
last month in the same area.

The source of infection for the chicken and the birds is unknown.

"We are in constant contact with the authorities in Shenzhen, we have not
heard any outbreak of bird flu among poultry in Shenzhen recently,"
Chow said. But he added it is possible for Guangdong to miss minor
outbreaks because of the vastness of the area.

Chow said he believes the province will notify Hong Kong about major
outbreaks of bird flu.

Although the risk of human infection exists, he said the possibility of
humans catching the H5N1 virus from birds and transmitting it to others
is still low.

In Hong Kong, 18 people were infected with the H5N1 virus in 1997 and
six of them died.

Bird flu has infected at least 161 people in seven countries -- China,
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iraq and Turkey -- since 2003
and 86 of them have died, according to the World Health Organization.
Scientists have warned that a human flu pandemic would kill millions of
people worldwide.