According to the agreement made between the Mainland and Hong Kong, all imported chickens from the Mainland are vaccinated against H5 avian influenza. In addition, the FEHD conducts regular visits to registered export poultry farms on the Mainland and exchanges information with relevant Mainland authorities to ensure that all export poultry farms are up to standard.

To reduce the virus load in retail markets, the FEHD imposes two 'rest days' every month at live poultry retail outlets. On these days, all trading of live poultry is suspended to facilitate thorough cleansing and disinfection of the premises concerned. Prior to the 'rest days', all live poultry in the retail outlets have to be slaughtered.

The department has prescribed additional conditions for operators of fresh provision shops and market stalls selling live poultry to minimise the risk of the avian flu virus spreading. These conditions require the operators to wear protective clothing including aprons and rubber boots and to wear rubber gloves when handling and bleeding live poultry; and erect a transparent acrylic panel segregating the poultry cages at the shop front from the pavement or common passage. They should also prevent customers from touching live poultry. In July 2004, the Government introduced a voluntary scheme offering existing live poultry retailers an ex gratia payment for surrendering their fresh provision shop licences or stall tenancies in FEHD public markets so as to reduce the number of live poultry retail outlets. The voluntary scheme was extended to August 2006.

There were outbreaks of avian influenza in the region and the first human case in Mainland China was reported in 2005.The Hong Kong SAR Government activated the Alert Response Level based on the latest epidemiological situation of local influenza and risk assessment in accordance with the pandemic contingency plan. The AFCD continued its monitoring work and implemented biosecurity measures at local farms and wholesale markets.

AFCD staff inspected local farms and collected samples from chickens for testing for avian influenza to ensure that the chickens in every consignment had been vaccinated with the H5 vaccine and had reached the required protective level of antibody before marketing.

During 2005, the AFCD maintained import restrictions on eight countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, South Africa, Malaysia and Pakistan) and temporarily suspended the importation of live birds from nine countries/territories (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Romania, Mongolia, Croatia, Ukraine and Mainland China) due to reported outbreaks of avian influenza. The restrictions on Malaysia, Pakistan and South Africa were dropped after they met the Office International des Epizooties (OIE World Organisation for Animal Health) guidelines for freedom from avian influenza. Import protocols were developed for the safe importation of live birds from the Mainland, based on vaccination and certification.

All live birds imported to Hong Kong are required to be tested for avian influenza before shipment and are subject to strict health certification requirements. Imported birds from other countries seen to present a potential risk, such as those countries neighbouring infected countries, are subject to hold-and-test measures in quarantine in Hong Kong before release.

Protection of humans, local poultry farms, wholesale and retail markets against avian influenza in 2005 continued to involve a strategy which also included greatly enhanced biosecurity in farms and markets, universal vaccination of chickens against H5N1 and intensive surveillance of all bird populations entering or already in Hong Kong to enable early detection of H5N1 virus incursions. The enhanced biosecurity in farms and poultry markets included birdproofing of farms and a spectrum of measures relating to the movement of birds, materials and people to and from farms and markets to prevent avian influenza in the industry and prevent human exposure to the virus.

As part of this strategy, samples were collected on a daily to monthly basis from both healthy and sick or dead birds on poultry farms, wholesale and retail poultry markets, captive birds in recreation parks, pet birds in pet shops and the Mong Kok Bird Garden, wild birds in wetlands, country parks and elsewhere and then cultured to detect avian influenza viruses. In addition, to enhance the early detection of H5N1 virus incursions, rapid (real-time) PCR testing for H5 virus continued on local and imported poultry prior to entry to wholesale poultry markets. In 2005, the AFCD and the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong conducted virus culture tests for avian influenza viruses on over 38 000 samples from poultry and other birds.

During the year, H5N1 viruses were only isolated from one wild bird, a Chinese pond heron, in January. There was no evidence of H5N1 infection in local or imported farm poultry, pet birds or captive birds in recreation parks despite the major outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in the Asian region from 2004 on.

In August, the Government introduced a voluntary scheme for poultry farmers and live poultry wholesalers and transporters with the aim of reducing the live poultry population to improve avian influenza risk management. Under the scheme, they are granted ex gratia payments if they opt to surrender their licences or tenancies and cease their poultry business permanently.