The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man (right), visits the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market this morning (April 8) to inspect the implementaion of enhanced surveillance and control measures in view of confirmed human cases of Influenza A (H7N9) on the Mainland. – Credit HK Govt.
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As the surveillance and epidemiological investigations continue in Easter China for the H7N9 virus, Hong Kong officials continue to monitor the situation, and work on possible counter measures.
One indication of the seriousness with which this virus is being taken are the masks being worn by just about everyone in the photo above, even though the virus has yet to be detected in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s SFH (Secretary of Food & Health) Dr. Ko Wing-man made the following comments after inspecting a local poultry market on the morning of April 8th.
SFH on preventive and surveillance measures Against human cases of Influenza A (H7N9) (with photos)
Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, after inspecting Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market this morning (April 8):
Secretary for Food and Health: The experts from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, as well as the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, met with experts from the Mainland authorities yesterday. The meeting agreed that starting from Thursday both sides would enhance the surveillance work on poultry, particularly the live poultry imported into Hong Kong. We will take samples from poultry imported into Hong Kong upon their entry at the Man Kam To Control Point for rapid tests of H5 avian influenza (AI) and H7 AI. When these live poultry arrive at Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market, they will be held here until the results of the rapid tests demonstrate that they are negative for H5 AI and H7 AI. They will then be released to the market for sale.
Reporter: (On when the Government will upgrade our preparedness to serious response level.)
Secretary for Food and Health: According to our contingency plan for influenza outbreaks (the Government Preparedness Plan for Influenza Pandemic) including avian influenza outbreaks, when we detect any poultry in Hong Kong positive for H7N9 avian flu, or any human infection of H7N9 is established in Hong Kong, we will escalate the contingency plan to a serious response level. At the same time, we will also carry out partial or total culling of live poultry in Hong Kong as well as suspending the import of live poultry into Hong Kong.
Reporter: Are there any measures to stop wild birds from infecting poultry here?
Secretary for Food and Health: You can see that the storage place for live poultry overnight (in the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market) is protected by nets. There are adequate biosecurity measures in this wholesale market to guard against the wild birds spreading the H7N9 virus to our poultry.
Meanwhile, Xinhua News has a report on the meeting between Hong Kong and the Mainland Authorities held on Sunday.
HK, Mainland step up surveillance against H7N9 virus
2013-04-08 16:58:04
HONG KONG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao officials decided at a meeting in the southern coast city of Zhuhai to step up surveillance of live poultry and poultry products bound for Hong Kong, by increasing the sample size and frequency of farm inspections, according to a Monday's release by the city's Information Service Department.
Representatives of concerned departments from Hong Kong and Macao met with representatives of the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine, and those in charge of inspection and quarantine for Guangdong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hainan, and Macao on Sunday.
The meeting was called in response to the H7N9 avian influenza outbreak affecting people in the eastern region of the Mainland, and to ensure the safety of live poultry and poultry products supplied to Hong Kong.
To strengthen prevention and control measures against the virus, testing methods will be developed, testing standards and results will be validated, and technical training will be provided, the meeting decided.
Since 2010, all live poultry and poultry products bound for Hong Kong have been tested for H5 and H7 avian influenza, and all 570,000 specimens have tested negative.
Hong Kong will soon begin conducting tests for H7 avian influenza in imported live poultry. Over 18,000 dead birds and 15,000 other specimens have been tested in the past three years, and no cases of the virus have been found.
The city's government will continue to work closely with Mainland authorities and keep them informed of any infected birds, in which case poultry will be culled and Mainland poultry imports suspended to minimize the risk of an outbreak in Hong Kong.
