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Subject: Press conference: Call for banning the trade in wild birds [Print This Page]
Author: HKBWS WY    Time: 7/03/2007 16:45     Subject: Press conference: Call for banning the trade in wild birds

Bird Trade Bringing H5N1 to Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po & Happy Valley
Global H5N1 Experts & Hong Kong Bird Watching Society Calls for Ban

Press Release
Hong Kong Bird Watching Society

7 March, 2007



Following the discovery of another Scaly-breasted Munia infected with the deadly H5N1 virus in Sham Shui Po, global H5N1 experts and the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society are increasingly convinced that the wild bird trade is bringing the virus into Hong Kong, and called on the HKSAR Government to follow the European Union in banning the trade in wild birds.

Echoing sentiments expressed by leading virologists Professor John Oxford from the UK and the Dr Robert Webster from the United States (appendix A), Hong Kong-based microbiologist Professor Malik Peiris said that the 500,000+ wild bird trade into Hong was the most likely source of the H5N1-infected wild birds that were being repeatedly detected in Hong Kong:

“Recognizing that the natural habitats of many of these infected birds is not urban, and that the Chestnut Munia  in particular no longer occurs in the wild in Hong Kong in any habitat, there is no other logical explanation for the presence of H5N1 in birds found in these highly urbanized locations. Given that such infected birds pose a threat to the poultry industry and to human health, more stringent and effective regulation or an outright ban on the trade of wild birds seems a sensible precaution,” said Professor Peiris.

The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (HKBWS) called on the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Dr York Chow and the Centre for Health Protection to recognize the wild bird trade and religious releases as an important source of H5N1 introduction into Hong Kong, and to close this route for human infection by banning the trade.

“Government data shows that the most feared case for a new pandemic - H5N1 - is being found weekly in Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Happy Valley - some of the most densely populated areas on Earth,” said Mike Kilburn, Vice Chairman of HKBWS. “Munias and mesias – non-migratory birds commonly sold for religious release, have been clearly identified as carriers of the virus.”

Analysis of birds with H5N1 in 2006/2007 shows that all fall into two categories. They are either species like Scaly-breasted and Chestnut Munias and Silver-eared Mesia, that are widely traded for religious release, but are non-migratory and never occur naturally in urban areas, or they are urban predators and scavengers, such as Common Magpie and Crested Goshawk, which include sick or dead birds in their diet (appendix B).

“Thousands of live birds have been tested for H5N1 at Mai Po in the last two winters. Not a single bird has tested positive,” added Mr Kilburn. “We call on the Administration to accept and act upon the view of the virologists that it is the confinement of traded birds in unhygienic and stressful conditions, and not concentrations of migratory birds, which represents the real risk of infection to the public.”

He also noted, that about 70% of infected birds this year (appendix C) were found within 3km of the still open Mong Kok Bird Market, where people come into direct contact with birds before during and after purchase. Mr Kilburn noted the illogical double standard whereby Mai Po, where people do not come close to birds, would be closed if just one bird with H5N1 were found within 3km.

Research by the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Ecology and Biodiversity has shown that somewhere between 450,000 and 700,000 birds are imported into Hong Kong annually. Of these Government checks approximately 40-80,000 birds under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This leaves a minimum of 350,000 totally unregulated birds arriving in Hong Kong per year. However, it should be noted that birds are not checked for disease under CITES.



APPENDIX A

Source:  Reuters Website,  3rd March, 2007
Bird Flu Experts Urge Halt to Wild Bird Trade
By Tan Ee Lyn

“Reuters. . . The warning comes as Hong Kong confirmed a scaly-breasted munia found dead in late February in the densely-populated district of Sham Shui Po had tested positive for the H5N1. It was the 13th wild bird to have been found dead with the virus in Hong Kong since the start of this year.

"The munia is not a migratory bird. Again, it points to humans and the trade in movement of birds that are responsible for spreading this virus," said virologist Robert Webster from St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis [USA].

“ . . . John Oxford, virology professor at the Royal London Hospital, said the resurgence of the virus in Asia was deeply worrying and he called on governments to hammer out contingency plans.

"Without plans, there is no action. A lot of countries in southeast Asia, their plans are not substantial. That's what I find worrying. In China, there is still an attitude that it is not their problem," Oxford told Reuters in an interview.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSHKG26871220070304?pageNumber=1


APPENDIX B

Scavenging Birds  23%
Predatory Birds 23%
Commonly traded small birds 54%



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