Hong Kong stepped up checks at markets and poultry farms yesterday and enforced a ban on bird imports from southern China after the death of a man in Guangdong Province from bird flu.
Health Secretary York Chow (周一嶽) ordered checks to be intensified at local farms, and wholesale and retail markets as the three-week ban on Guangdong birds went into effect.
Hong Kong imports roughly half its poultry from Guangdong, while the remainder is produced on local farms, officials said.
The head of the Hong Kong Poultry Wholesalers' and Retailers' Association, Steven Wai-cheun Wong, said the measures were reasonable even though the prices would go through the roof.
"I think it's acceptable and reasonable to suspend imports of poultry from China for a few weeks because this is done for people's health but I hope this won't be dragged on for months," he said.
Prices for live poultry soared more than 30 percent yesterday and Wong warned they would rise further if the ban was extended.
"Hong Kong people will have to pay for a lot more for chickens," he said.
China confirmed late on Sunday that a man had died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Guangdong and Hong Kong responded by immediately slapping a ban on imports of all live poultry, day-old chicks and pet birds from the province.
The 32-year-old man surnamed Lao died Thursday in Guangzhou. Although it was China's ninth death in all it was the first in the province that borders Hong Kong.
Zhong Nanshan (
Lao's death brings to 95 the number of people reported to have died from bird flu since 2003 -- all but six in Asia.
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