HK considers vaccination plan to beat new flu risk

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, January 17, 2004

HK considers vaccination plan to beat new flu risk

The Hong Kong authorities are considering vaccinating poultry workers against flu as a precaution against a deadly new strain developing from avian flu.

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The Hong Kong authorities are considering vaccinating poultry workers against flu as a precaution against a deadly new strain developing from avian flu.

According to Saturday's South China Morning Post, the city's 151 chicken farms are being inspected for bird flu once a week and800 poultry market stalls are being checked daily.

Although there have been no unusual increases in flu-like casesthis month, Hong Kong's Department of Health "will keep in view the need for vaccination of (poultry) workers," a spokesman was quoted as saying.

The vaccine does not give immunity against bird flu H5N1, but it reduces the chance of a new strain developing from a person being exposed to both avian flu and another flu strain.

Thomas Tsang Ho-fai, a Department of Health consultant, said the situation would be closely monitored because "if it really occurs, the impact is very great."

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement from itsGeneva headquarters on Friday warning of a possible new strain developing. Based on the experiences of the avian flu outbreaks inHong Kong in 1997 and last year, and the infections in Vietnam, itwas possible that humans could serve as the "mixing vessel" for a new flu, the WHO said.

Hong Kong public hospitals are also being stretched to capacitywith patients suffering pneumonia and fever symptoms.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said the isolation beds at Prince of Wales Hospital were fully occupied and Nethersole Hospital was nearly full.

The increase in local precautions came as Vietnamese authorities ordered the slaughter of all chickens in the 12 regions struggling to contain the H5N1 epidemic.

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