Hong Kong bans import of poultry products from New South Wales, Australia

Press release from Hong Kong's CHP :

" The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (October 16) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza at a poultry farm in New South Wales, Australia, import of poultry and poultry products, including poultry eggs, from that state has been banned with immediate effect for the protection of Hong Kong's public and animal health.

A CFS spokesman said some 4 600 tonnes of frozen and chilled poultry meat and 500 000 poultry eggs from Australia were imported into Hong Kong last year.

"We have contacted the Australian authority over the matter and will closely monitor information released by the OIE on the avian influenza outbreak in the country. Appropriate actions will be taken in response to the developments of the situation," the spokesman said."

Australia : Bird flu outbreak expected to devastate family business

Via ABC News :

" Thousands of chickens are set to be culled in an outbreak of bird flu in NSW. 

A farm that has 400,000 layer chooks in the state's south-west has been infected with the H7 strain of avian flu. 

Thats' not the strain that kills humans, and authorities have confirmed that eggs from the farm are still safe to eat. However, it could still devastate the family business involved."

HK bans import of poultry products from part of Italy

Press release from CHP :

" The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (August 17) that in view of the notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly-pathogenic H7 avian influenza on a layer hen farm in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, import of poultry and poultry products, including poultry eggs, from this area has been banned with immediate effect for the protection of Hong Kong's public and animal health.

A CFS spokesman said about 2 076 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 120 000 poultry eggs from Italy were imported into Hong Kong last year."

Bird flu detected on Dutch poultry farm

Via Xinhua :

" Bird flu, or avian influenza, was detected on a poultry farm with 9,000 hens in the Dutch town of Tzum, in the northern province of Friesland, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs reported on Saturday.

It's probably a mild H7 version of the bird flu virus which is not dangerous to human health, it said.

But the low pathogenic mild variant can mutate into one that is highly pathogenic, highly contagious and deadly for chickens. Therefore, the chickens on the farm will be cleared, according to European rules.

From Saturday morning, a transport ban of poultry, eggs and poultry manure was established in an area of over one kilometer around the farm in Tzum.

According to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it was the fourth time this year bird flu was detected on a Dutch farm. Earlier this year, a total of 120,000 chickens were cleared on farms in Lochem, Zeewolde and Leusden."

Hong Kong : Update on number of suspected human cases of avian influenza A(H7) notified

Another press release from the Centre of Health Protection in Hong Kong, excerpt :

" The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (June 12) provided an update on the latest number of suspected human cases of avian influenza A(H7) notified to the CHP, including cases fulfilling reporting criteria and remaining ones not fulfilling reporting criteria.

From noon yesterday (June 11) to noon today, the CHP received notification of one case which fulfilled reporting criteria and one case which did not fulfil reporting criteria. Cases are detailed in the Attachment.

This brings the total number of notifications received by the CHP since March 31 of cases fulfilling reporting criteria of suspected human cases of avian influenza A(H7) to 42, while the total number of notifications not fulfilling reporting criteria is now 132.

The spokesman urged travellers not to visit wet markets with live poultry in the affected areas and to avoid direct contact with poultry, birds or their droppings. If contact has been made, they should thoroughly wash their hands with soap and water.

"Influenza A(H7) is a statutorily notifiable infectious disease in Hong Kong. Locally, no confirmed human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been recorded so far," the spokesman stressed."

Canada : Low Pathogen Bird Flu in Wild Birds

Article via The Poultry Site :

" The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed a low pathogenicity H7 avian influenza virus in wild birds in central and western Canada.

The birds were sampled through Canada’s Inter-Agency Wild Bird Influenza Survey, which serves as an early warning system designed to detect avian influenza viruses circulating in the wild that could be transmitted to domestic poultry.

Low pathogenicity influenza viruses commonly circulate in the wild bird population with little or no impact on the health of wild birds or people.

However, H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses are known to have the ability to mutate from low pathogenicity to highly pathogenic forms once introduced into domestic poultry, potentially causing high rates of disease and mortality in birds."