# 1578
Hong Kong, the site of the first deadly outbreak of H5N1 in humans back in 1997, is well aware of the dangers of bird flu. When a migratory bird is found with the virus, they take immediate action.
Ocean Park, a popular theme park in Hong Kong, boasts an aviary with over 900 birds. The aviary will be closed to the public for the next 21 days while the rest of the birds are monitored. They are calling this a strictly precautionary action.
This from The Straits Times.
Suspected bird flu shuts HK park's aviaries
HONG KONG - A HONG KONG theme park is to shut its aviaries for three weeks following the discovery of a wild heron suspected of dying from bird flu.
The bird was found on Monday in a remote area of Ocean Park, on the south coast of Hong Kong Island.
'As a precautionary measure, the walk-in aviaries in Ocean Park will be temporarily closed to visitors for 21 days starting tomorrow,' said a spokesperson with Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
Ocean Park, a conservation-focused theme park with pandas, dolphins, birds and rollercoasters, attracted nearly 5 million visitors last year, proving more popular than the struggling Hong Kong Disneyland.
Spokeswoman Christine Lau said the rest of the park would operate normally and the aviary closures were a precautionary measure, with the 900 birds in its collection not having shown any symptoms of bird flu.
Epidemiologists fear the H5N1 strain, which remains mainly an animal disease but has infected humans, could mutate to a form that spreads easily among people.
China detected an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry in Tibet earlier this week. -- REUTERS
