- Title: CHINA: Hong Kong bans backyard chickens amid bird flu scare
- Date: 13th February 2006
- Summary: (W2) HONG KONG, CHINA (FEBRUARY 10, 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHICKENS IN BACKYARD; CONSERVATION OFFICERS CATCHING PIGEONS IN CAGE
- Embargoed: 28th February 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- City:
- Country: China
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVAAK67S0Q2KP9A6IOLXSAPHALEG
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Government workers searched rural areas of Hong Kong for poultry on Monday (February 13, 2006) to enforce a ban on backyard fowl to try to stop bird flu taking hold in one of the world's most densely populated cities.
Jitters have grown in Hong Kong, already on edge following eight deaths from bird flu in China and after six wild birds and two chickens in the territory were killed by the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the past three weeks.
Hong Kong has not had any bird flu infections in people since the present outbreak began in Asia in late 2003. But the territory's health chief said earlier this month that H5N1 is probably endemic in the region around Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's legislature passed last week an emergency law banning backyard poultry farming and officials stressed on Monday that poultry would be culled with no further warning.
"The law banning the keeping of backyard chicken will commence today. Starting from today, we will be going around villages in the New Territories, and in the urban cottage area. We will go through each and every household and seize poultry still kept in the backyard. This is all because of the imminent threat of Avian Influenza, as we know the disease affects chickens and it becomes a channel that the disease can get into the community. We urge members of the public to cooperate with us, so that we can reduce the threat posing to the community," said Dr. Liu Kwei-lin, assistant director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation.
The ban brought tears of despair to bird owners in Hong Kong's rural New Territories, who saw their poultry as pets, as well as food.
"I don't think they (the government) would give me the permit. At the moment, the government's measure is so robust, I am sure they will not give us the permit (to keep pet chicken)," said Mr. Ng, a former pet chicken owner.
The virus has killed at least 90 people in Asia and the Middle East, and forced the culling of millions of birds since late 2003.
Global fears grew over the weekend after the deadly strain first appeared in the European Union, in swans in Greece and Italy, while Nigeria waited nervously for test results on two children feared to be the first Africans to be infected.
Most human victims caught the virus directly from birds but experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a form that can spread between people and spark a pandemic, killing millions.
Hong Kong people are almost fanatical about cooking and consuming only freshly slaughtered poultry and many rural households keep chickens, ducks and geese for their table.
A census last year found nearly 13,000 ducks and chickens in the territory, with each farmer having an average of seven birds.
The government is keen to wipe out bird flu from the city where the virus made its first known jump to humans in 1997, killing six people. The spread of the deadly SARS virus to the city from mainland China in 2003 has reinforced the risk.
In Hong Kong, workers searched around homes for traces of poultry. Before the new law, households did not require any licence if they kept fewer than 20 birds.
An official said 700 birds had been seized so far this month but many poultry owners had culled their own birds so it was unclear how many were left. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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