Hilary Wong
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Tests for Newcastle disease are being carried out at San Tin's Kin Lun Shan poultry farm, where at least 3,500 chickens have died since Friday.
Staff of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department continue to inspect farm facilities and probe the mass deaths after bird flu was ruled out.
Staff, including vets, wore protective gear to examine the remaining poultry yesterday and establish procedures for chickens to be vaccinated. Besides some of the carcasses, air and water samples and chicken excrement were taken away for testing.
Another 150 chickens were found dead yesterday morning, local breeder and trader Regal Cheng Chin- keung said. "The department has ruled out avian flu and the farm will be sterilized three times a day," Cheng added.
A department spokesman said its audits reveal that about 3,500 chickens have died so far.
"Officers have begun inspecting all local poultry farms and no abnormalities were observed at 14 inspected farms, " said the spokesman, adding that further tests will be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.
University of Hong Kong microbiologist Ho Pak-leung eased public fears by saying Newcastle disease cannot be transmitted from person-to-person.
Kwok Ming-cheung, director of Hong Kong Poultry (Kamei Chicken) Development, said the supply of Kamei chicken in the market will not be affected as the dead birds only account for 1-2 percent of the total market supply.
Kwok guarantees that no poultry in poor health will be supplied to the market.
"The supply is stable and will not be affected. The dead chickens, which were 30 days old, could not be sold as they need to be at least around 90 days."
Kwok expects poultry prices to soar during the Mid-Autumn Festival next month as there is still no supply of live poultry from the mainland.
A power blackout in the poultry farm last week, brought on by thunderstorms and lightning, is thought to have caused the deaths of the chickens.
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