ENG-2019 — Page 213

10

Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

Samples are collected for testing from poultry farms, wholesale market and retail outlets; from healthy, sick and 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 the collection of sick and dead wild birds and poultry. In 2019, the AFCD collected 9,142 wild bird and poultry carcasses and found none carrying the H5 Al virus.

Other preventive measures against Al include inspecting live poultry retail outlets to ensure compliance with special licensing or tenancy conditions on Al control; cleaning common areas of FEHD markets thoroughly three times a day; 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 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 measures are effective in preventing human infection of Al, as evidenced by the total absence of any locally infected human case of H5 or H7 Al virus after the first Al outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997.

Antimicrobial Resistance

The Hong Kong Strategy and Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (2017-22) tackles the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance to public health. The action plan details AFCD measures on the food animal production sector, including livestock and fish, that aim to alleviate the development of antimicrobial resistance and safeguard animal and public health.

The department analyses antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial resistance, and devises control measures accordingly. It inspects food animal farms to collect data and samples, including animal feed and healthcare products, to evaluate antimicrobial usage, as well as biological samples for bacterial culture and antimicrobial sensitivity testing. In July, a long-term surveillance system was launched to monitor antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial resistance on food animal farms.

During the year, the department granted funding through the Sustainable Agricultural Development Fund and Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund to the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong to provide veterinary services to food animal farms. It also held seminars for food animal farmers to promote responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials, and to convey the message of preventing disease through good farm management practices and effective biosecurity measures. Roving exhibitions were organised to raise public awareness of the problem of antimicrobial resistance.

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, the intended use and the disease status of the place of origin, and formulates quarantine measures to control the import of animals and animal products.

167