Major H9 bird flu outbreak not likely: CHP

The controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Edwin Tsui, said the H9 bird flu virus is unlikely to cause a major outbreak in Hong Kong. This came after the SAR recorded a local infection of the avian influenza strain involving a two-year-old boy. Speaking in a press briefing on Monday, Tsui said genetic analysis showed the boy contracted the H9N2 virus, a low-pathogenic avian influenza strain. “The transmissibility between humans is still low. [The virus’s] appearance and behaviour is similar to the other H9N2 infection and H9N2 strains reported overseas,” he said. “So what we can do to reduce the transmission of the H9N2 infection is to reduce the exposure from the live poultry and the faeces of the poultry.” Tsui said the boy had visited a fresh provision shop at Wo Che Market in Sha Tin that sells live chickens earlier this month before he fell sick. The CHP believes the boy could have contracted the virus there under a contaminated environment, even as 15 out of 17 environment samples collected at the boy’s home, the shop and a park he visited have tested negative, with the remaining two results pending. Officials said daily disinfection by the shop might have eliminated the virus. Tsui also said all 13 contacts of the boy were asymptomatic and tested negative for the virus. Edited by Edmond Fong