HK to cull thousands of poultry after fecal sample found H7N9 positive

HONG KONG, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said on Monday that all poultry at Cheung Sha Wan wholesale market will be culled on June 7.

The health chief made the announcement after a special meeting following a fecal sample taken from a Tuen Mun retail market tested positive for H7N9 avian flu virus. Live poultry trade has been suspended in Hong Kong.

Ko told media that the government has inspected nine local poultry farms, with all samples tested negative to the virus.

He said that there are 4,500 live poultry at the Cheung Sha Wan wholesale market, the only poultry wholesale market in Hong Kong. All the 270 samples collected there are also negative.

The government will inspect and take samples from the remaining 20 local chicken farms, Ko said, hoping that the results could come out before the Dragon Boat Festive, a Chinese traditional festival, when chickens are in high demand in Hong Kong.

He said the supply of live poultry could be resumed if all samples tested negative. Meanwhile, health authorities will try to trace the origin of the virus.