The government has declared the Cheung Sha Wan Poultry Wholesale Market as an infected area after a chicken, imported from a Guangdong farm, has tested positive for bird flu. The facility will be shut down for three weeks for disinfection and all 20,000 live chickens will be slaughtered, leaving no live chickens for Chinese New Year rites and rituals as live chicken trade will be stopped for 21 days.
Even local chicken farms won’t be exempted. Health Secretary Ko Wing Man said that local chicken farms will also be banned from supplying live poultry to the market for 21 days to ensure local stocks were not infected. Angry chicken sellers have protested outside the Government House, with the industry set to lose at least HK$3 million from the quarantine.
I suppose we’d have to make do with defrosted chickens for now — how disappointing!
Source: RTHK, Apple Daily
Photo: istolethetv, Flickr
