Hong Kong: Suspension of Import of Poultry and Poultry Products from General Paz, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

The Food Safety Centre of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong announced on February 25th that, in response to a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health, there has been an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in General Paz, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The Centre has instructed the industry to temporarily halt the import of poultry meat and poultry products from this region to safeguard public health in Hong Kong. A spokesperson for the Centre stated that according to data from the government's statistics department, Hong Kong imported approximately 2080 metric tons of chilled poultry meat from Argentina last year.