Press Releases

AFCD keeps close watch on chicken farms
Saturday, February 16, 2002

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said today (February 16) that the department has been keeping a close watch on all chicken farms in Hong Kong, including the quarantine farms.

A spokesman for AFCD stressed that infected farms were confined to the Kam Tin quarantine area. He noted that five more quarantine farms in the area proved to be infected with H5 virus.

The spokesman stressed, "There is no sign to show that this is a new outbreak of disease or that the disease is spreading to farms outside the quarantine area."

"These five farms, which are located close to the earlier-infected farms, had been on our suspicion list since February 5. They had been quarantined to facilitate our staff to conduct a thorough investigation. After detailed examination and laboratory testing including virus culture, they proved to be infected.

"As the newly-confirmed infected farms have been put under quarantine from February 5, no chickens have left these farms for sale since then. The farms are under 24 hours security surveillance and are closely monitored by AFCD staff," he said.

The depopulation operation on these farms, which involves about 192,000 chickens, starts today.

"We remain on full alert and will continue monitoring all local farms and the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Poultry Wholesale Market closely," the spokesman said.