Hong Kong must keep its vigilance against bird flu as the threat of avian influenza still remains, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Donald Tsang told legislators on Thursday, warning any outbreak will ruin the current economic recovery.

In his opening remarks at the Legislative Council, Tsang said the HKSAR government will fully use the existing mechanism to liaise closely with the health authorities in Beijing and Guangdong Province to closely monitor the situation.

Though Hong Kong has not reported a single case of bird flu so far, the HKSAR government has decided to cap the local chicken population at 2 million to reduce the risk of an avian influenza outbreak in local farms.

Tsang said the HKSAR government will identify a suitable site for centralized slaughtering within three years to reduce the risk for Hong Kong residents to get infected with the deadly H5N1 strain.

Taking a question from the catering industry representative, Tsang said Hong Kong must find a solution and keeping the chicken population at 2 million, which is enough for the nearly 7 million citizens.

"We have to reduce the risk," he stressed. "Why do people go to Singapore for a special dish? They use chilled chicken, and if they can do it, why can't we?"

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2006)