HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong has found the feared H5N1bird flu virus at a poultry stall in one of the territory´smany markets and ordered the culling of 2,700 birds, agovernment spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The official said Hong Kong had banned poultry imports frommainland China for 21 days, as well as from local farms in theterritory, while it worked to discover the source of theinfection.

She added there had been no human infection detected. Thevirus was discovered in the Po On Road market in the city´sSham Shui Po neighborhood.

It is not the first appearance of the disease in theterritory, with infected wild birds discovered in 2007.

Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in late 2003, it haskilled 241 people in a dozen countries, according to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO).

Although most people who have caught bird flu have haddirect or indirect contact with infected fowl, experts fear theconstantly mutating H5N1 virus could change into a form easilytransmitted from person to person. This could sweep the world,killing millions.