Hong Kong has suspended imports of poultry from France, including meat and internal organs, due to an outbreak of bird flu in the European countries, government sources said at the weekend.
The suspension will last till further notice, a spokeswoman with the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said. She added that the Hong Kong government is contacting French authorities on the outbreak's latest development.
French Agriculture Ministry on Saturday confirmed the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in a turkey farm in the southeastern part of the country. The farm has been sealed off with surviving birds slaughtered.
So far, eight European Union countries -- Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia -- have reported cases of the H5N1 virus detected in wild birds.
(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2006)
