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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries
To monitor Al effectively, samples are collected regularly for testing from poultry farms, wholesale and retail markets; from healthy, sick or dead birds; from birds kept in recreation parks and pet shops; and from wild birds in wetlands and elsewhere. The government provides a round-the-clock service for collecting sick and dead wild birds or poultry. In 2016, the AFCD collected 10,115 wild bird or poultry carcasses and three of them were found carrying the H5 AI
virus.
Other preventive measures against Al include taking faecal dropping and drinking water samples at live poultry retail outlets to test for the Al virus; conducting regular inspections of live poultry retail outlets to ensure compliance with the special licensing or tenancy conditions on Al control; cleaning common areas of FEHD markets thoroughly three times daily; cleaning live poultry market stalls after business hours daily, followed by further thorough cleansing and disinfection by FEHD contractors; maintaining the cleanliness of market stalls' ventilation systems; conducting regular inspections, washing and disinfection of public places where wild birds gather, and taking stringent enforcement action against the feeding of wild birds in public places.
The CFS collects swab samples from 30 poultry in each consignment of live poultry imported from the Mainland to conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for influenza A, covering both H5 and H7 Al. In 2016, it took 11,179 samples from imported live poultry for the test. Since 2014, H7 serological testing has been in place to strengthen surveillance against Al.
The relevant measures are effective in preventing human infection of Al, as evidenced by the fact that there has been no locally infected human case of H5 or H7 Al virus after the first Al outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997.
Control of Animal Diseases
As Hong Kong's inspection and quarantine authority for animals, the AFCD regulates cross- boundary animal movements to prevent animal diseases from entering the territory. The department also assesses the risk of disease in imported animals and animal products on the basis of their species, intended use and the disease status of the place of origin, and formulates the corresponding quarantine measures to control the import of animals and animal products.
In 2016, 8,600 permits were issued for animal imports, which included dogs, cats, horses, birds, zoo animals and live food animals such as pigs and cattle.
Quarantine Detector Dog Programme
The Quarantine Detector Dog Programme helps combat the illegal import of animals. The dogs are trained to detect live animals and animal products hidden in luggage at boundary control points, including Lok Ma Chau, Shenzhen Bay and Hong Kong International Airport. In 2016, more than 217,000 travellers, 780 vehicles and 30,000 parcels and pieces of luggage were screened,
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