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604
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
(5) MR. LI WAH-Ming moved:-
'Shellfish is food with high risk, which often carries various kinds of bacteria and toxins, and a number of citizens were infected with cholera after eating shellfish recently. This shows that the Government's monitoring of its hygiene condition can be further enhanced. RESOLVED that the Council, together with the Department of Health, examine the setting up of an import quarantine and source registration system for shellfish, and devise stringent hygiene standards, including the handling and rearing arrangements at retailed shops.'
He said (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, there were six cases in which residents were infected with cholera after taking seafood last Saturday, bringing the total number of cholera cases in the first three months of 1998 to 15, while the figure for the whole of last year (1997) was only 14. Summer is hardly here yet the situation is already alarming enough. When the season with a temperature favourable for the breeding of bacteria eventually is here, the number of cases would likely increase. Yesterday the Democratic Party had a meeting with the staff of the Department of Health and they admitted that the number of cholera cases definitely would rise. The fact that 80% of the cases are locally contracted ones indicates that the environment of Hong Kong has probably become a hotbed of germs
Last February, there were six cases of cholera in which the victims had taken cockles. This has sounded the alarm about the hygiene of shellfish. As shellfish are a high-risk food prone to carrying bacteria, such as those causing cholera and hepatitis A, as well as heavy metal and toxins, they are harmful to the health of human beings. If handled improperly, food poisoning would result. Apart from raw oysters which, being raw food, are monitored under the Sushi, Sashimi, Raw Oysters and Raw Meat By-laws formulated by the Council last year, the other general shellfish and their treatment are not subject to any particular health requirements. Although the Council and the Department of Health have prepared leaflets on health education, which advise on the treatment of shellfish, there are no related legislation and guidelines providing for monitoring.
At the same time, for shellfish which are imported by air, they must be pre-packed and carry a health certificate and label issued by the place of origin like the other general marine products. As for the marine catch transported into Hong Kong by fishing boats, including shellfish. I must stress that no registration of the place of origin is required. Moreover, imported marine products are not subject to any particular examination system. Only a small quantity of samples obtained from the market are examined under the general food examination mechanism of the Department of Health. Consequently, when certain waters are polluted and shellfish thus contaminated are brought into the market, the Government will encounter difficulty in tracing the source and barring further import.
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