A Community Cleanliness Day was held in Hong Kong on Sunday as part of Hong Kong government´s ongoing program to prepare against a flu pandemic.

With the theme "Raise hygiene awareness, guard against influenza", cleaning events will run from Sunday until early next year in all 18 districts in Hong Kong.

Activities on Sunday included cleaning operations, inspection of rear lanes, roving exhibitions, bus parades, health talks and distribution of publicity materials.

On the same day, the Housing Department held an Estate Cleanliness Day with Fu Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po and Tin Yuet Estate in Tin Shui Wai as the focal estates for the event.

As more and more avian flu cases were reported in the neighboring places, Hong Kong government has stepped up a package of measures to keep the disease outside its territories.

Temperature screening at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau border crossings have already been re-activated after China´s Ministry of Health Wednesday confirmed two human cases of H5N1 bird flu.

Noting wild pigeon droppings may help spread harmful germs, avoiding feeding them is the best way to minimize their congregation. So any wild bird feeders in common areas at public rental housing estates and markets will be served a 1,500 HK dollars (194 US dollars) fixed-penalty notice and five penalty points under the Marking Scheme for Tenancy Enforcement when caught, and no prior warning will be given, Hong Kong´s housing department said.

The government also has updated its website on avian flu with a Really Simple Syndication application to allow subscribers to receive automatically the latest news updates on avian flu via their personal computers, smart phones or personal digital devices.

Besides, the government has widely distributed a number of leaflets with different themes and in different languages to ensure a proper understanding of the differences between seasonal flu, avian flu and flu pandemic, as well as from giving health tips to guard against the diseases.

"The government alone could not build a strong defense against infectious disease, We need each and every individual to contribute his/her part in making our overall plan effective and sustainable," said Carrie Yau, Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food.

"Although there is no outbreak of bird flu in our local poultry, we should not let our guard down, particularly at a time when more bird flu outbreaks are being reported on the mainland and in the region," she added.

Hong Kong Hospital Authority launched on Nov. 8 its first ever drill on the special administrative region´s preparedness for a possible avian influenza pandemic.

The drill, code-named "Exercise Flamingo", was aimed at testing the response of the public hospital´s disease control and the procedures for the treatment of the patients.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang said after seeing the drill that Hong Kong had made enormous headway since the outbreak of SARS, not just in terms of resource acquisition, deployment of resources, communication between various units, and even the equipment and facilities within the hospitals have all been improved.

According to the Hospital Authority, a second drill code-named "Exercise Poplar" will be staged on Nov. 24 for testing Hong Kong´s capacity in tracing the source of avian influenza patients.

So far the government has invested over 3 billion HK dollars (386 million US dollars) to enhance the city´s preparedness against emerging infectious diseases including avian influenza induced influenza pandemic, Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said.

Noting that the presence of live poultry in wet markets is a potential threat of an outbreak of avian influenza, the government is considering setting up a regional slaughtering hub in Hong Kong, Chow said.

Consultants have recently completed their study for such a slaughtering hub and the government hopes the process for the hub could start early next year, he added.