Published Date: 2007-02-27 12:00:02
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza (43): China (HK), Viet Nam
Archive Number: 20070227.0699

AVIAN INFLUENZA (43): CHINA (HONG KONG), VIET NAM
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[1] China (Hong Kong), wild birds
[2] Viet Nam (Hai Duong)
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[1] China (Hong Kong), wild birds
Date: Mon 26 Feb 2007
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: Xinhua via Chinaview [edited]
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/26/content_5776049.htm>

The Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department [AFCD]
said on Monday [26 Feb 2007] that 2 birds had been confirmed to be H5N1
virus positive after a series of laboratory tests.
The chestnut munia [_Lonchura atricapilla_, see picture at
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Adult_Black-headed_Munia.jpg> -
Mod.AS] was collected by department staff on 18 Feb 2007, in the vicinity
of St Teresa's Hospital at Prince Edward Road Westin Kowloon City,
following a public referral. The carcass of the scaly-breasted munia
[_Lonchura punctulata_, see picture at
<http://www.kolkatabirds.com/scalybreastedmunia8.jpg> - Mod.AS] was found
the next day [19 Feb 2007] at the junction of Sing Woo Road and Wong Nai
Chung Road, in Happy Valley.
A department spokesman reminded people to observe good personal hygiene.
"They should avoid personal contact with wild birds and live poultry and
clean their hands thoroughly after coming into contact with them," he said.
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[Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region) maintains an exemplary programme
for avian influenza surveillance and prevention. Results of the veterinary
laboratory tests in collected carcasses of wild birds are accessible in the
website of the AFCD [<http://www.afcd.gov.hk/eindex.html>].
According to an update of 26 Feb 2007, 12 wild birds of 10 species have
been found H5N1 positive since the beginning of 2007, namely 2
scaly-breasted munias, 2 house crows, and one each of the following:
crested goshawk, Japanese white-eye, white-rumped munia, peregrine falcon,
blue magpie, silver-eared mesia, common kestrel, and a chestnut munia. In
2006, 17 wild birds, belonging to 11 species, were reportedly found
infected, all of them during the winter months, between 10 Jan and 22 Mar
2006.
The success of the authorities in preventing outbreaks in local domestic
poultry and human cases, in spite of the apparent endemicity of the virus
within the wild bird population, is impressive.
Further details, including maps with the locations of each collected wild
bird, can be found at
<http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/quarantine/qua_vetlab/qua_vetlab_ndr/qua_vetlab_ndr.html>.
- Mod.AS]
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[2] Viet Nam (Hai Duong)
Date: Mon 26 Feb 2007
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: Thanhnien News.com [edited]
<http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=25505>

Bird flu has surfaced in the northern province of Hai Duong, killing about
60 chickens in Thanh Mien district on 16 Feb 2007, said a local health
official on Monday [25 Feb 2007].
According to the head of the provincial animal health department, Dong Van
Chuc, the department immediately culled the whole flock of 10 500 birds.
The infected site was quarantined and sterilized, and the disease has not
spread any further.
Bird flu, or the H5N1 virus, which reappeared in Vietnam's Mekong Delta
last December [2006], has been contained in the region for over a month.
Vietnam has recorded the 2nd highest number of H5N1-related human deaths
after Indonesia since the virus first hit in 2003. But no human case has
occurred in Vietnam since November 2005.
[byline: Quang Duan, translated by Tuong Nhi]
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[An interactive administrative map of Viet Nam is available at
<http://www.angelfire.com/co/hongnam/vnmap.html>. - Mod.AS]

See Also

Avian influenza (40): Pakistan, China (Hong Kong), Russia 20070222.0658
Avian influenza (32): UK (England), China (Hong Kong), Turkey 20070212.0534
Avian influenza (30): China (Hong Kong), UK 20070209.0512
Avian influenza (25): Japan, Viet Nam, UK 20070203.0437
Avian influenza (14): Viet Nam, Thailand, S. Korea 20070122.0295
Avian influenza (13): Japan H5N1, Viet Nam, Indonesia 20070120.0260
....................arn/mj/sh

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