Bird flu outbreaks in parts of Japan, Denmark trigger Hong Kong poultry bans

Hong Kong authorities have banned poultry meat and products from parts of Japan and Denmark following reports of outbreaks of highly pathogenic strains of Bird Flu.The Centre for Food Safety said on Monday that imports of poultry products, including eggs, from Holbaek municipality in Denmark and Japan’s Iwate prefecture had been suspended with immediate effect.Traders had been instructed to suspend the imports to protect public health, it said.The precautionary move follows notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirming outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5 strains of avian influenza respectively.Hong Kong imported 2,390 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and nearly 298 million eggs from Japan last year, according to the Census and Statistics Department.The city imported about 450 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 210,000 eggs from Denmark last year.