HONG KONG (Reuters) — Hong Kong began culling 20,000 chickens and suspended imports of fresh poultry from mainland China for 21 days Jan. 28 after the discovery of the H7N9 bird flu virus in a batch of live chickens from the southern province of Guangdong.
The government order took effect two days before celebrations began for Chinese New Year, when poultry sellers generally anticipate a boom.
Officials were also concerned that the holiday period, when millions of Chinese travel to visit family, often carrying live birds, could encourage the spread of the flu.
Read Also
Alberta eases water access for riparian restoration
Alberta government removes requirement for temporary diversion licence to water plants up to 100 cubic metres per day for smaller riparian restoration projects
Another type of bird flu, H5N8 is causing problems in South Korea, which said Jan. 27 it would expand a poultry cull.
The country’s agriculture ministry said the H5N8 strain of bird flu had been detected on six poultry farms and that there had been 13 cases in migratory birds since the first outbreak earlier this month.
No human infection has been reported, while the ministry is looking into four additional reports from poultry farms and more than 50 other suspected cases in migratory birds, it said.
The recent outbreak of bird flu in China has cost poultry farmers $3.3 billion, and the government will implement new policies to support the industry, the Shanghai Securities News reported Jan. 30.
The outbreak has affected more than 40 million farmers and triggered a fall in chicken and egg prices, the newspaper said.
