January 13, 2014
Hong Kong continues ban on live poultry from Shenzhen
Following confirmation of a third human case of H7N9 avian influenza, the ban on live poultry from Shenzhen remains.
The food and health chief Ko Wing-man said that the ban on live poultry imports from Shenzhen farms will remain in place in the near-term.
According to newspapers, Ko Wing-man said as human cases of H7N9 bird flu have been detected in Shenzhen, any scrapping of the ban on live birds from there will not be considered.
This comes as the third case of H7N9 bird flu has been confirmed in Hong Kong this week, with a 65-year-old man in critical condition at Queen Mary Hospital.
Initial checks by the Centre for Health Protection show he travelled to Shenzhen with his family on January 1 and 2, and they passed a wet market on New Year's Day. In Hong Kong, the patient did not visit any wet markets but sometimes walked past Pei Ho Street Market, Sham Shui Po.
Ko said health officials are investigating how the man became infected.