************************************************************
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (August 14) that in view of a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture about a confirmed case of highly pathogenic H5N2 sub-type avian influenza in Jiangdu district, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and a confirmed case of highly pathogenic H5N6 sub-type avian influenza in Fogang County, Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province, it has followed the existing approach for control of highly pathogenic avian influenza and taken the recommendations from the World Organisation for Animal Health into account to ban the import of poultry and poultry products, including poultry eggs, from the area within a radius of 3 kilometres from the said places for a period of 90 days and from the area within a radius of 13km for 21 days with immediate effect for protection of public health in Hong Kong.
A spokesman for the CFS said that, according to the information from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the outbreaks do not affect any registered Mainland poultry farms for export to Hong Kong. No registered poultry meat or poultry egg processing plants are currently situated within the import restriction zone concerned either. According to records, no poultry or poultry products were imported from Jiangsu Province into Hong Kong last year but about 1 200 000 live poultry fowls, 67 000 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 8 500 000 poultry eggs were imported from Guangdong Province.
The Centre will closely monitor the latest developments of the avian flu cases in the provinces and take appropriate follow-up action as necessary.
Ends/Friday, August 14, 2015
Issued at HKT 20:10
NNNN
