All 15,000 live poultry in the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market will be culled and the live poultry supply from the Mainland will be suspended after a consignment of live chickens from Huizhou was confirmed to have the H7 avian influenza virus.

Secretary for Food & Health Dr Ko Wing-man told the press that a number of samples from a registered farm in Huizhou tested positive for the flu in initial blood tests but negative in molecular tests. An additional 120 swab samples from the same consignment tested positive.

To prevent the risk of spreading of H7N9 virus, the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department has declared the market an infected place and has ordered it to remain closed for three weeks. Live poultry trading will be suspended during this period.

After the suspension period, the registered farm must be verified safe in terms of bio-security measures before resuming its supply of live chickens to Hong Kong.

The department will take three to four days to inspect all 29 local farms and collect more samples for testing. Unaffected local chickens will be dispatched to retail points through the Ta Kwu Ling Checkpoint.