HK clamps down on bird flu

Tag : Frozen Poultry

Hong Kong - The familiar clucking of chickens returned to HongKong's markets on Wednesday after a three-week ban, but bird flufears may soon consign the local preference for freshly-killed meatto history.

June's outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus has prompted thegovernment to take measures to phase out the slaughtering ofchickens in wet markets, a move that has presented a bleak futurefor the city's butchers.

"I don't know what I will do when the stall closes," said one, whomanages a live chicken stall that has been operating in the city'sWanchai market for 15 years.

"If someone hires me, I will probably work again at the market. Butif no one hires me, I might go and work as a security guard," saidthe man, who only gave the surname Tam.

The owner of his stall has decided to take his share of a1,1-billion Hong Kong dollar (about R1-billion) compensationpackage offered by the city's government for traders, farmers andother workers involved in the poultry industry to surrender theirbusiness licences.

The package was formulated during the three-week ban on the sale oflive poultry since June 11, imposed following the discovery of H5N1in chickens at four wet markets.

The government put further pressure on the traders by introducing aban on keeping live chickens overnight, insisting that any leftunsold by 8.00 pm would have to be killed.

A report in the South China Morning Post said only a fifth of thecity's chicken stalls would reopen on Wednesday as a result of thenew measures, many waiting to see how they would cost them.

Hong Kong's food and health bureau said the action was necessary tominimise any possible spread of the virus to humans.

Virologists have supported the move, fearing a repeat of theworld's first outbreak of bird flu in humans which hit the city in1997, leaving six people dead. It has since killed more than 240people worldwide.

But despite vaccination programmes and other measures, authoritieshave so far resisted calls to centralise all slaughtering ofpoultry until 2012, which experts say would further minimise thechances of the disease spreading.

The government has in recent years appeared reluctant to ban thetraditional practice of slaughtering live chickens to order, asmany Hong Kong people insist that frozen chicken is bland incomparison with the freshly killed bird.

"Fresh chicken tastes a lot better, the meat is juicy and fresh,"said a 76-year-old housewife giving her name as Wong, who buys livechickens as a treat on special family occasions and festivals.

"As for the frozen chickens, the meat is soft and it has the smellof the refrigerator, the taste is not so good."

Another housewife shopping in the market, a 65-year-old who gaveher name only as Fok, said she also preferred the taste of freshchicken, but understood the move.

"It is a pity that some stalls will close due to the new policy,but health should always be the main consideration," she said.

Estimates vary as to how many chickens could be killed as a resultof the latest plan, but when a cull was announced following theJune 11 outbreak, around 3 500 chickens due to be held overnightwere killed.

If the figure was representative, more than one million chickenswould be wasted every year. But such a gruesome scenario isunlikely as traders are expected to take the compensation offer,although many butchers have argued it is not enough.

David Hui, a professor of medicine at the city's ChineseUniversity, said the moves made sense on public health grounds, butthe reappearance of avian influenza in markets was troubling.

"It seems there could be something wrong with the H5N1 vaccine," hesaid. The vaccine is given to all poultry and birds held in theterritory, he said.

However, some butchers insist they will carry on.

"Despite the fact that we need to kill all the chickens that areunsold at the end of the day, I will continue in my business," saidanother butcher in Wanchai market, who did not want to be named.

"It's tradition to sell live chickens."