Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ10: Dead bird carcasses
Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(October 17):
Question:
Recently, some members of the public have reflected to me that upon receipt of
reports about the discovery of dead bird carcasses, the government department
concerned often failed to remove the carcasses promptly and seldom conducted
avian influenza virus tests on them. In this connection, will the Government
inform this Council of:
(a) the number of reports received in each of the past three years regarding the
discovery of dead bird carcasses;
(b) the respective numbers of dead bird carcasses collected and samples of such
carcasses tested in each of the past three years, as well as the results of such
tests; and
(c) the reasons for not conducting tests on each of the dead bird carcass
collected?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has started to
collect dead bird carcasses since November 2005. Between November and December
2005, in 2006, and between January and September 2007, the number of telephone
reports of dead bird found was about 1,600, 16,000 and 15,400 respectively. Some
of them were duplicate reports and enquiries about following up of earlier
reports.
(b) Relevant statistics are tabulated in Annex.
(c) The AFCD will adjust its testing strategies having regard to changes in the
risk of avian influenza and the situation on the death of birds. For instance,
more tests will be conducted during the high-risk period for avian influenza or
at a time when massive death of birds is found, while less will be conducted
during the low-risk period. Moreover, since avian influenza virus can only
replicate in living cells and is susceptible to deactivation with the changes in
temperature, humidity and pH value, as well as in an anisosmotic environment,
which renders it difficult to survive in decayed carcasses, the AFCD would not
conduct tests on decayed or weathered and dried carcasses of dead birds. For the
above reasons, we did not conduct tests on all the dead bird carcasses
collected.
Ends/Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:35
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Annex to LCQ 10