In a press release issued on 3 December, the Centre for food safety (CFS) of the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced that in response to separate notifications from the Ministry of Primary Industry of New Zealand and the World Organisation for Animal Health (Oie) , the CFS has immediately instructed the trade to suspend import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the areas affected by outbreaks of highly pathogenic H7N6 avian influenza in Waitaki, New Zealand, and highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in some parts of the United States, to protect the health of the people of Hong Kong.
The picture shows the headquarters building of the HKSAR Government
According to the press release, New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industry and the World Organisation for Animal Health have respectively reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H7N6 avian influenza in the city of Whitaki, New Zealand, and outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Sacramento County in Meeker County, Minnesota, PINNAR, Arizona, Missoula, Montana and California.
A CFS spokesman said that according to information provided by the HKSAR Census and Statistics Department, about 130 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 830000 poultry eggs were imported from New Zealand in the first nine months of this year, and about 63,470 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 17.2 million poultry eggs from the United States.
“The CFS has contacted the New Zealand and US authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE and relevant authorities on avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.