Press Releases

Cheung Sha Wan wholesale market re-opens for live chickens
Friday, June 15, 2001

The first consignments of live chickens from the Mainland arrived at Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market today (June 15) after the Government completed the cleansing and disinfection work at wholesale and retail markets.

The Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, Mrs Lessie Wei, said that these chickens, numbering more than 120,000, will be available for trading when the retail outlets re-open tomorrow.

"Following the avian flu incident last month, a series of preventive measures have been put in place to step up the avian flu surveillance system and the cleansing work at the wholesale market.

"We are committed to implementing these measures to safeguard public health," she said.

At the Man Kam To Animal Inspection Station, staff of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) take 14 blood samples from each truck load to the laboratory of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) for testing for H5 antibodies, results of which are available within a few hours.

Trucks then go directly to Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market. Chickens will not be released for sale until the results of blood tests show they are H5 negative.

"FEHD staff also take some additional blood samples from chickens in the wholesale market for testing by AFCD.

"As an additional surveillance measure, AFCD will test samples collected regularly from dead chickens in the wholesale and retail markets for influenza viruses.

"Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market will as usual practise three rest days a month, the fifth, 15th and 25th of each month. The rest day is a very important step to enable us to carry out thorough cleansing and disinfection work and to break the cycle for the breeding of avian flu viruses," Mrs Wei said.

Moreover, AFCD has awarded the cleansing of cages to a contractor for six months starting from today. AFCD staff will closely monitor the cleansing work to ensure that the cages are thoroughly cleaned before they are reused.