Hong Kong: Poultry meat and poultry products suspended in Middelfart, Denmark

The Food Safety Centre of the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (March 18) that in response to the World Organisation for Animal Health's notification of a low pathogenic H7 avian influenza outbreak in Middelfar, Denmark, the Centre immediately instructed the industry to suspend imports of poultry meat and poultry products (including poultry eggs) from the area in order to protect public health in Hong Kong. A spokesman for the Centre said that Hong Kong imported about 1,340 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 1.56 million eggs from Denmark last year. The spokesman said: "The Centre has contacted the Danish authorities on the incident and will continue to follow closely the information of the outbreak of avian influenza issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health and take appropriate action in response to the development of the epidemic. "