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Hong Kong bird market re-opens one month after bird flu case
Hong Kong - Hong Kong's bird market will reopen Thursday, three weeks after it was closed when a dead starling tested positive for bird flu. Government officials said Wednesday the Mongkok bird market would reopen with tougher licensing regulations in place to protect against any further infections of the deadly H5N1 virus.
Thomas Sit, assistant director for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, said bird shop-owners who breached the new conditions risked losing their licenses.
"All the birds sold in the bird shops must come from known sources. They (shopkeepers) must have detailed records of transaction, species and the number of birds sold," he said.
The market will also be closed one day a month for cleaning, he added.
Hong Kong has stayed free of any human cases of H5N1 since 1997 when the virus jumped the species barrier and infected 18 people, killing six.
The outbreak prompted the government to put in place stringent control and precautionary measures which included regular clean-up days at poultry markets and controls on imports.
The World Health Organization says the H5N1 virus has infected 317 people in 12 countries in Asia and Africa, killing 191. Of those, 25 infections and 16 deaths have occurred in mainland China.
Hong Kong - Hong Kong's bird market will reopen Thursday, three weeks after it was closed when a dead starling tested positive for bird flu. Government officials said Wednesday the Mongkok bird market would reopen with tougher licensing regulations in place to protect against any further infections of the deadly H5N1 virus.
Thomas Sit, assistant director for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, said bird shop-owners who breached the new conditions risked losing their licenses.
"All the birds sold in the bird shops must come from known sources. They (shopkeepers) must have detailed records of transaction, species and the number of birds sold," he said.
The market will also be closed one day a month for cleaning, he added.
Hong Kong has stayed free of any human cases of H5N1 since 1997 when the virus jumped the species barrier and infected 18 people, killing six.
The outbreak prompted the government to put in place stringent control and precautionary measures which included regular clean-up days at poultry markets and controls on imports.
The World Health Organization says the H5N1 virus has infected 317 people in 12 countries in Asia and Africa, killing 191. Of those, 25 infections and 16 deaths have occurred in mainland China.