Yahoo News 6 Feb 09;
HONG KONG (AFP) – A Hong Kong bird sanctuary has been closed for three weeks after a dead grey heron found there tested positive for the H5 bird flu virus, authorities said Friday.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said further tests would determine if it was the deadly H5N1 strain, but that the Mai Po reserve would be closed to visitors as a precautionary measure.
"We will monitor the situation closely and review the closure period as necessary," a departmental spokeswoman added.
The reserve is located in the northwestern corner of Hong Kong and has been known as a haven for migratory birds for decades.
The department said it inspected a chicken farm near the reserve but found no abnormal mortality or symptoms of avian influenza.
The carcasses of a bird and a chicken found in different locations in the city two days ago were also found to have the H5 virus and are being examined further.
The department said earlier it had found the H5N1 strain in four other dead birds collected from Lantau island since January 29.
Around 250 people have died of the human form of avian flu since 2003, the World Health Organisation says.
Most had close contact with sick birds, but scientists fear the virus could one day mutate into a form that would spread rapidly among humans, causing a pandemic.
In December, authorities found H5N1 in a chicken at a poultry farm in Hong Kong, prompting the slaughter of more than 90,000 chickens.
Hong Kong was the scene of the world's first reported major H5N1 bird flu outbreak among humans in 1997, when six people died.
