Hong Kong wild bird has H5N1 virus

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=115751

Hong Kong (dpa) - A wild bird found dead in urban Hong Kong has tested positive for the avian flu virus, government officials confirmed Thursday.

The bird, discovered in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong island, is the first this winter to be discovered in Hong Kong with the virus which has killed 157 people mainly in Asia since 2003.

Dr Thomas Sit of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, said tests on the bird revealed it had died of the H5N1 virus and that it could signal the start of the bird flu season in Hong Kong.

"I would suspect, as would many animal health authorities in the world, that migratory birds may be the first to carry the virus and then infect wild birds," he said.

He said doctors had been asked to watch for possible human cases while his staff would step up monitoring of the wild bird population.

 

[DRJJ]

Re: Hong Kong wild bird has H5N1 virus

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG180216.htm

Wild bird found dead with H5 in HK shopping district

HONG KONG, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A wild bird found dead in a shopping district in Hong Kong has tested positive for H5 avian influenza and government experts said on Thursday it might have been infected by migratory birds flocking south.

"Preliminary tests show H5 but we will make further tests to confirm ... if it's H5N1," said a government spokesman.

The munia was found dead along with five others in Causeway Bay district on New Year's Eve, but the others tested negative.

"This is a local bird. It is possible that migratory birds, while stopping here, could have come into contact with our local birds and infected them," said Thomas Sit, assistant director of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

The H5N1 virus made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people. So far, it cannot be passed easily from human to human, but experts fear the virus could mutate and cause a pandemic, killing millions.

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