Now they're "pecking" on the poor chickens!--Jana

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0105/19/world/world6.html
Saturday, May 19, 2001

Hong Kong to slaughter all chickens

Hong Kong: About 1.2 million chickens and other poultry will be slaughtered by the territory and imports halted from mainland China to stop the spread of a bird flu outbreak.

It is the second time in less than four years that Hong Kong has killed all its poultry. In 1997 the Government slaughtered 1.4 million birds when a different avian flu virus killed six people and affected a dozen others.

The Secretary for the Environment and Food, Ms Lily Yam, said all poultry in local food markets would be killed by tomorrow and at farms throughout the territory within two weeks.

Ms Yam also said the Government had asked mainland China to halt exports of live birds to the territory. Hong Kong consumes around 100,000 fresh chickens a day, of which more than 70 per cent come from mainland China.

Ms Yam stressed the virus would not affect humans.

The Government had already slaughtered about 6,600 chickens on Wednesday after discovering the strain had killed a large number of birds at three markets but it has since discovered more chickens dying of the virus.

The source of the strain has not been traced. Ten markets have been found to be infected with the virus.

The new strain derives from a virus that infected geese in China's Guangdong province in 1996, virologists said.

Doctors call southern China an "epicentre" of viruses because farmers there rarely segregate different types of poultry, creating a perfect breeding ground for new flu strains.

Unlike ducks and geese, which are centrally slaughtered in Hong Kong, chickens are sold live in markets and are killed and plucked in front of customers. The latest outbreak brings that practice into question, Ms Tam said.

"Scientifically and logically, it would of course be best to centralise the slaughtering of chickens," she said. "But would the public accept that?"

Boomberg, agencies