Hong Kong is shutting down its live chicken market in the next 21 days in a move to abate the spread of the bird flu virus or H7N9.
Hong Kong had its first case of H7N9 in December of last year, prompting the government to further strengthen border inspections for the island city. Just recently, chickens from mainland China en route to Hong Kong markets tested positive for H7N9, prompting Hong Kong to shut down its chicken markets for 21 days and to slaughter the 20,000 live chickens already there.
Hong Kong law dictates that all chickens from the associated region, as well as local chickens, must be immediately tested. Tests revealed that more poultry had been infected, thus prompting the temporary shutdown of the live chicken market. Local farmers and businessmen protested the government's move.
According to Hong Kong media, an official from the Food and Sanitation Department of Hong Kong said "If people want to eat chicken they will have to eat frozen chicken." The deliverymen involved in transporting the batch of infected chickens have been deemed high risk candidates for the bird flu and are being observed at appointed hospitals.
The Hong Kong Departments of Sanitation and Disease Prevention will also be monitoring the health of employees of both the chicken markets and animal testing centers associated with the infected batch. Since the first case of H7N9 in December of last year, Hong Kong has already had two deaths related to the flu, including one 80-year-old man who died on Dec. 26th.
Chinese media reports say that since the outbreak of H7N9 in mainland China in February 2013, there have been 97 confirmed cases, including 19 deaths.
During the SARS outbreak of 2003, 299 people died of the disease in Hong Kong. That previous crisis has prompted the current emergency actions taken by the government today.