The Hong Kong government yesterday announced that it would slaughter all chickens in the territory in a drastic attempt to prevent the spread of a mysterious bird flu which has killed four people.
The slaughter of the estimated 1.2 million chickens will begin tomorrow, Mr Stephen Ip, secretary for economic services, said. Mr Ip said the birds would be buried in three massive landfills. He said the killing was necessary because all the birds were being kept together at the markets and farms and cross-infection could not be ruled out. This meant that geese and other poultry would be destroyed.
Dr Margaret Chan, director of health, said there was no indication of an epidemic of the virus in Hong Kong, and that it was safe to eat cooked poultry.
The government reported that a 60-year-old woman, who died last Tuesday, was discovered to have the flu, bringing to 12 the number of confirmed cases.
However, the number of suspected cases has fallen to eight after two children were removed from the suspect list.