Press Releases
SFH on avian influenza
Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and
Health, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session after attending Hospital
Authority Spring Gathering 2009 today (February 5):
Reporter: (inaudible)
Secretary for Food and Health: It is very difficult to postulate where the
three carcasses came from. But from the various investigations we have done,
it is most likely drifting down from the Pearl River in the last week or
two. Some of the new carcasses we have found are still under investigation.
So far we have not found any extra H5 affected carcasses. But as you know
that we are doing wild bird and dead bird surveillance all the time. We test
about 40 to 80 dead birds all over the territory every day. These include
both those we have discovered in North Lantau and other areas. If we found
any positive test results, we will announce right away. Every year we found
some 10 to 20 such cases. As long as they are limited to wild birds, the
risk to Hong Kong people is not that high because it has not been reported
that wild birds can transmit the disease directly to human beings. It is
usually through infection of poultry, and then the sick poultry would affect
human beings.
Reporter: (about the risk of avian influenza)
Secretary for Food and Health: I don��t think so because the whole region is
still under the threat of avian flu, particularly during the whole winter.
It is usually after May that the whole region starts to warm up, we will
then see a decline of these incidents.
Reporter: (about the H5N1 virus)
Secretary for Food and Health: Let me talk about the virus samples we have
collected so far. In the three carcasses which we have isolated the virus,
the preliminary discovery is that it is related to a similar type of virus
that happened in the southern part of China in the last two years, which is
clade 2.3.2. But it is slightly different from what we have discovered last
year in our market and the outbreak in our local farm in December, which is
clade 2.3.4. But these are quite common clades of avian flu in the southern
part of China and Hong Kong. It is certain that there is no significant
mutation of the virus. That is actually what we have discovered so far. On
the eight human infections of avian flu in the Mainland, we do not have the
full report yet. But according to the preliminary information that is given
to us, it is similar to the various virus that was isolated in northern
China in the last one or two years. So there is no significant epigenic
mutation. As far as the nature of the virus is concerned, we are confident
that at this moment there is no evidence of human to human transmission and
no significant epigenic change.
Reporter: (inaudible)
Secretary for Food and Health: What I have told you is that the virus has
not changed that much. Whether the poultry and reaction to the virus, and
whether the type of vaccine that is given to the various poultry in
different parts of China might have slightly different response, these are
something that we cannot conclude at this moment.
Reporter: The threat of avian influenza is still there, right?
Secretary for Food and Health: The threat is always there. We should always
be vigilant against infectious diseases, particularly new diseases. For
avian flu, the most important aspect is to prevent any people from
approaching sick poultry or poultry from unknown source. This is the most
important point I want to stress. If we can stay away from live poultry,
particularly sick poultry or poultry from unknown source, I think we are
pretty safe. I hope this will be the message you can tell all the citizens,
particularly those who might have a habit of shopping in places where the
poultry might come from unknown source, whether it is in Hong Kong or across
the border. This is a very important message for them.
(Please also refer to the
Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, February 5, 2009
Issued at HKT 22:16
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