Officials test poultry in Hong Kong at the border near
mainland China as authorities step up measures against the spread of the
deadly H7N9 bird flu. (AFP/Philippe Lopez) HONG KONG: Hong Kong has suspended its live chicken imports from the mainland for the next three weeks.
The suspension comes after one incoming batch had been infected with the H7N9 bird flu virus.
The government will also cull its current stock of 20,000 chickens at the Cheung Sha Wan wholesale poultry market on Tuesday.
It had found samples from one batch of chickens from Foshan in Guangdong to be infected with the H7N9 virus.
The Cheung Sha Wan wholesale poultry market will be closed for 21 days for cleaning, after the culling takes place.
The health secretary stressed that imports will only resume after the poultry is found to be free from the virus.
There have been two deaths in the city from the virus, and both victims were believed to have contracted the disease in Shenzhen.
There has not been a human-to-human case of transmission in Hong Kong yet.
- CNA/gn
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