Hong Kong government said Tuesday that the special administrative region has suspended the imports of poultry and poultry meat from Hunan Province since bird flu outbreak in the province had been confirmed.

A spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau (HWFB) announced that in view of a confirmed H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in Hunan Province, Hong Kong had suspended the processing of applications for the importation of poultry and poultry meat from Hunan Province with immediate effect.

"The HWFB received notification from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Mainland this afternoon, of a H5N1 avian influenza outbreak among poultry in a village in Hunan Province. We understood that a total of 687 chickens and ducks showed signs of illness, of which 545 died," the spokesman said.

The spokesmen said there were no imports of poultry meat and live birds from Hunan Province but should there be any such applications, they would be withheld from processing of them for the time being to ensure food safety.

In addition, the spokesman noted that there had been avian influenza cases in Turkey, Romania and Croatia. He added that there had been no imports of live birds or poultry meat from these three countries into Hong Kong since no import protocols had been established for the importation from these sources.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2005)