The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 8) that in view of a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Csongrád-Csanád County in Hungary; and notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Boston District of Lincolnshire County, Huntingdonshire District of Cambridgeshire County and Melton District of Leicestershire County in the United Kingdom (UK), and the Rural Municipality of Ritchot in the Province of Manitoba, L'Érable Regional County Municipality and La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec Province in Canada, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong currently has an established protocol with Hungary for the import of poultry meat but not for poultry eggs. According to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 250 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Hungary, about 90 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Canada, and about 940 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 230,000 poultry eggs from the UK in the first nine months of this year.

"The CFS has contacted the Hungarian, British and Canadian authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.