The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (January 2) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the Żagań District of the Lubuskie Region in Poland, and an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan respectively, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 1 870 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Poland, about 1 540 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 219.73 million poultry eggs from Japan in the first nine months of last year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Polish and Japanese authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

Ends/Friday, January 2, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:56

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