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The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (May 2) learnt that high pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza was detected in a sample taken from a wholesale poultry market in Taipei city and that the batch of chicken was from a poultry farm in Yunlin County. The CFS announced that import of poultry eggs from Yunlin would be banned with immediate effect for the protection of Hong Kong's public and animal health.
A CFS spokesman said live poultry or poultry meat from Taiwan are not allowed to be imported into Hong Kong, but a small quantity of poultry eggs is imported from Taiwan. According to records, about 8.5 million poultry eggs were imported into Hong Kong from Taiwan last year.
Import bans on the same items from Penghu County and Hualien County in Taiwan, imposed in November 2012 and August 2013 respectively due to outbreaks of avian influenza, are still in force, he added.
"We will closely monitor information issued by the World Organization for Animal Health on the avian influenza outbreak and the latest situation in Taiwan, and will maintain close contacts with major local egg importers, distributors and supermarkets," the spokesman said.
Ends/Friday, May 2, 2014
Issued at HKT 21:30
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