020212 Hong Kong Kills Chickens to Curb Bird FluFebruary 5, 2002Hong Kong - Hong Kong killed 67,000 chickens and shut a second poultry farm in a bid to contain the spread of a bird-flu virus in the territory's second scare in less than a year. The latest move came after a cull over the weekend of about 110,000 birds. Last May, the government ordered a mass cull of 1.2 million birds for fear of an epidemic of the deadly virus. A different strain of the avian flu killed six people in an outbreak at the end of 1997 and early 1998. The government said on Monday it slaughtered 64,000 birds at a local farm after the owner reported that 1,000 of his chickens died in recent days. The farm has also been ordered to close down immediately. Another 3,000 birds at a local market were also being destroyed after the virus spread across stalls. Health officials did not say if they would repeat last year's mass cull but assured the present virus did not affect humans. The scare comes at a time when chickens are in high demand for feasts to celebrate the Chinese New Year in a week's time.
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com |
