HongKong veut couper sa population de poulets en 2

[Animal 0]

Monday, Mar 14, 2005
Hong Kong wants chicken population cut by half as precaution against bird flu

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong's government said Monday it plans to step up precautions against bird flu and slash the local chicken population by half to 1.8 million, sparking outrage from the poultry industry.

Locals have long favoured freshly slaughtered chicken from live poultry outlets, but authorities want to clamp down on the practice to improve hygiene.

The reduced chicken supply of 1.8 million birds would allow officials to better control the birds if a bird flu outbreak occurs, Hong Kong's Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said in briefing paper for lawmakers discussed Monday.

Hong Kong ordered such a mass slaughter in 1997 when bird flu crossed over to humans, killing six.

The paper expressed concern about the virulence of the latest strain of bird flu to surface in Southeast Asia. Experts fear the avian influenza virus may spark the next human flu pandemic and kill millions by mutating into a form contagious among people.



"We feel this virus is posing an increasing threat to Hong Kong," Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow told legislators. "We can't predict how this virus will change in the near future."

The government paper said it hopes to reduce chicken numbers by enticing chicken farmers and wholesalers to quit with 264 million Hong Kong dollars or the equivalent of about $34 million US in compensation and retraining funding.

A similar program is already in place for live poultry retailers.

Hong Kong Poultry Wholesalers and Retailers Association Chairman Steven Wong said the government is "overly worried," adding local farms meet cleanliness standards. "All Hong Kong farms are up to par," he said.

The Hong Kong government also wants to centralize chicken slaughtering by region - a move Wong says will cripple the industry.

Bird flu has killed 33 people in Vietnam, 13 of them in the latest outbreak that began December 2004. A Cambodian woman died earlier this year while Thailand has recorded 12 deaths.



The Canadian Press, 2005

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=world_home&articleID=1871298