Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hong Kong Finds Another H5 Infected Bird

 

 

# 2795

 

 

 

 

 

Tung Ping Chau is an island located in Mirs Bay, in the extreme northeast corner of Hong Kong.  It is very close to the border with Guangdong Province, and it serves mostly as a nature preserve.

 

Authorities recently found, and tested, a dead Crested Myna bird collected there on February 12th, and preliminary results indicate the bird was infected with the H5 virus.

 

Although it is not unusual to find occasional wild birds in Hong Kong that carry the H5N1 virus, over the past couple of weeks at least a dozen have turned up.

 

This from Xinhua News.

 

 

Dead bird found positive for H5 in Hong Kong tests

 

www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-15 19:01:13

    HONG KONG, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A dead wild bird found in Tung Ping Chau has indicated a suspected case of H5 avian influenza, a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) of Hong Kong said on Sunday.

 

    The carcass of Crested Myna was collected at Shau Tau, Tung Ping Chau, a small island of Hong Kong, on Feb. 12 and further confirmatory tests were being conducted.

 

    The spokesman said there were no poultry farms within three kilometers of where the dead bird was found.

 

    "In view of the recent cases of H5N1 found in poultry and wild bird carcasses, the AFCD has phoned poultry farmers reminding them to strengthen precautionary and biosecurity measures against avian influenza. Pet bird shop owners, licence holders of pet poultry and racing pigeons have also been reminded to take proper precautions," the spokesman said.

 

    According to the website of the AFCD, there have been 12 confirmed H5N1 cases since Jan. 29, with nine cases resulting from tests on birds collected along Hong Kong's western coastline.