Cutting live poultry

Terminating the importation of live poultry is the only way to avoid human infection by avian flu, the MSAR Government believes, saying a final decision on whether to resume the sale of live poultry will be made this month.
“The avian flu has become increasingly serious internationally (…) the only solution left is the cessation of the importation of live poultry (…),” the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said last week at the Legislative Assembly (AL). She added that only halting the supply of live poultry “could suppress any possible threat of avian flu to residents”.
In less than 12 months, the MSAR authorities have culled live poultry in the city on at least five occasions, after detecting traces of avian influenza, with the most recent cull taking place in February.
According to the Secretary, live poultry inspections through random sample collections “can’t assure that all live poultry are not infected by avian flu”, putting all workers involved in the industry and local residents in danger.
“We don’t want local residents to have contact with poultry and lose their life. There are many risks for residents that purchase live poultry in markets. If there’s an outbreak in Macau, we can imagine how this will affect the city as an international tourism centre,” she added.
Ms. Chan added that the government is in negotiations with the sector so as to “provide more offers for the sector to transform,” saying a decision on the issue will be made this month.
The President of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), José Tavares claimed that sellers of live poultry “don’t now have a deep knowledge of avian flu and of the risks,” according to his two meetings with them.
“They sent a letter to insist on the import of live birds. They want the government to change its position,” he said, adding that the letter gathered the signatures of 250 sellers and was filed days after the government’s first meeting with them.
“They say they can’t survive from frozen meat sales, but we can help them change to other sectors,” Mr. Tavares guaranteed. *with Lusa