HK bird flu experts head for Shenzhen

Hong Kong medical and veterinary experts will go to its neighboring city of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province to gather more information on the human case of avian influenza there, a Hong Kong official said Wednesday.

Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said the case is worrying and could see the suspension of live mainland chicken imports for three weeks if confirmed.

He added that what concerns health authorities most is that the patient has no specific history of close contact with poultry, similar to two previous cases in Shanghai and Guangdong. Repeated cases on the mainland may mean there might be some "silent infections" among poultry, which might carry the virus while not showing symptoms.

Chow assured that Hong Kong has all the tools and mechanism to detect human avian flu and contain it.

"We should not panic, but at the same time we should be cautious," said Chow.

The Hong Kong delegation will discuss the case with the mainland officials later Wednesday, and share information on epidemiological, laboratory and animal investigation findings, as well as clinical treatment of the case.

Hong Kong Department of Health will continue temperature checks at boundary checkpoints, and accidents and emergency wards have been reminded to step up monitoring of unknown sources of pneumonia.