Hong Kong has ordered a local bird reserve closed starting
Friday after a wild grey heron was found sick there and tested
positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.
The Mai Po Nature Reserve, located at Lok Ma Chau near Hong
Kong's border with the neighboring mainland city of Shenzhen, was
"closed starting today until further notice," said a notification
posted on the gate of the bird sanctuary Friday.
The grey heron, a migratory species that often visits Hong Kong
in winter but is not resident in the southern Chinese territory,
was found sick on Dec. 5 at the wetland compensation area of the
railway's Lok Ma Chau Spurline and died the next day.
Subsequent tests over the next few days confirmed that the wild
bird was infected with H5N1 avian influenza, the Agriculture,
Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) of the Hong Kong SAR
government said a statement released late Thursday.
A spokesman for the department said Hong Kong has decided to
temporarily close the Mai Po Nature Reserve, which was far from
Hong Kong's crowded downtown area.
The move was "a precautionary measure," the spokesman was quoted
as saying, adding that there were no chicken farms within 3
kilometers of where the bird was found.
The government has maintained a stringent monitoring regime on
wild birds in the nature reserve since the winter of 2002, with
feces sample testing included.
"The AFCD will phone poultry farmers reminding them to
strengthen precautionary and biosecurity measures against avian
influenza," the spokesman said, adding that the government would
strengthen health and hygiene education efforts aimed at the
general public while carrying on its monitoring program on wild
birds and poultry imports.
Hong Kong was struck by bird flu outbreak several years ago but
has only had scarce cases of bird infections recently, prompting
the special administrative region government to aggressively
monitor wild birds activities.
Fearing a bird flu pandemic among human beings, it has also been
trying to curb bird flu with programs involving local hospitals and
the public, along with concerted efforts by neighboring mainland
cities and the central government.
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2007)