HK suspends live poultry trade after H7N9 bird flu

HONG KONG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government decided on Sunday to suspend live poultry trade after H7N9 bird flu was detected by spot check at a local street market.

The SAR government's food and environmental hygiene department said in a statement that the virus was found on Saturday in a fecal sample.

The sample was taken from the street market in Tuen Mun district on May 16 when a committed medical team of the University of Hong Kong conducted a routine spot check for bird flu.

The authorities have closed the street market and given thorough cleaning and disinfection, and will conduct spot checks to all local poultry farms for bird flu, according to the statement.

Ko Wing-man, Secretary for Food and Health of the SAR government, told the press that so far the source of the bird flu virus has not been identified and the SAR government will hold a special meeting on Monday to evaluate the risks and decide how long the trade suspension will last.

As of Sunday, the health department has contacted three of the four people working at the closed street market, and none of them had bird flu symptom.

A total of 86 poultry-selling street markets in Hong Kong have been examined and no illegal practices or trades were found, according to the food and environmental hygiene department.