ENG-2017 — Page 217

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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

Government measures to keep avian influenza (Al) at bay include stringent monitoring of the poultry supply chain from farm to retail levels, vaccination of chickens against H5 Al and close surveillance of imported and local birds.

Under an agreement with the Mainland, all poultry, except pigeons, imported from registered farms must be vaccinated against Al, commonly known as bird flu. Every live poultry consignment bound for Hong Kong must be tested negative for H5 and H7 Al before being released for sale. Government veterinarians also inspect registered farms on the Mainland to ensure their compliance with the bio-security requirements.

Hong Kong prohibits the keeping of poultry in backyards. Offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $100,000. Owners of racing pigeons are required to hold exhibition licences. Pet bird traders are required to submit official animal health certificates to the health authorities, or documents such as invoices showing the places of origin of their birds, or the names and addresses of their suppliers. The sale of birds from unknown sources is prohibited. Bird traders must keep up-to-date records of their transactions and the number of birds in their possession.

All live poultry in public market stalls and fresh provision shops must be slaughtered by 8pm every day. Live poultry are not allowed in these premises between 8pm and 5am. Live poultry retailers must ensure people working at retail outlets wear protective clothing and must report any dead poultry immediately to the FEHD. They must not overstock live poultry on their premises and must affix acrylic panels to their poultry cages to prevent direct contact between customers and the poultry.

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 2017, the AFCD collected 11,014 wild bird or poultry carcasses and three of them were found carrying the H5 Al virus.

Other preventive measures against Al include taking samples of faecal droppings and drinking water, as well as swabs from defeathering machines and chopping boards 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 Centre for Food Safety 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. H7 serological testing is in place to strengthen surveillance against Al.

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