The government will cull all live poultry if humans or chickens in the territory become infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus, Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Carrie Yau said yesterday.

She was reporting on the government's preventive and contingency measures in the Legislative Council.

Yau said if a territory-wide culling operation took place, poultry farmers would be compensated HK$30 for every live chicken. The total reimbursement would amount to more than HK$80 billion.

But the New Territories Chicken Breeders Association said it opposes the culling of all local chickens in the event of human or poultry avian flu infections, as chickens in the territory have already been vaccinated.

Legislator Andrew Cheng Kar-foo asked if the government would lift a ban on mainland poultry imports due to pressure from officials in Beijing. Yau stressed that public health concerns would always come before political considerations when making decisions on resuming imports.

Legislator Wong Yun-kan asked if the government has established a timetable for resuming the import of mainland chickens. Yau said resumption of imports would only be considered when at least 21 days have passed since the last occurrence of avian flu on the mainland.

Selina Chow echoed chicken traders' calls for the government to resume supply of live and chilled poultry from unaffected areas in the mainland. Chow, who represents the wholesale and retail sector, said the government should offer assistance to the trade, as 80 to 90 per cent of retailers and wholesalers have suspended their business activities after the import ban.

But Yau said the government has yet to develop specific policies to assist the industry. It will implement appropriate measures according to how long an epidemic remained in the region.

"Personnel from our department have been making daily visits to wet markets and retail points to monitor the sale of chickens," said Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene Gregory Leung.

Legislator Michael Mak Kwok-fung said the government should establish protocol for implementing public health measures and regulating the territory's poultry supply in view of recurrent avian flu outbreaks in Asia.

(China Daily HK Edition February 13, 2004)