Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow has called on people to dispose of poultry properly as avian flu is endemic among Hong Kong's birds.

He made the call today on the suspicion the dead chicken collected in Tuen Mun on February 4 may have been abandoned by people. He called on backyard poultry owners to dispose of their birds properly. They can call 1823 for assistance.

Dr Chow said several wild birds and a chicken in Sha Tau Kok have been found H5N1-positive, while preliminary tests on the Tuen Mun chicken has indicated a suspected bird flu case.

"We feel it is very important that we have to heighten our alert in terms of protection of our citizens against avian flu. So the timely legislative change that prohibits anybody to have chickens in their home is very important. I would like to appeal to anyone keeping chickens to call our Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department so we can collect the chickens."

Only licensed farms are allowed to keep live poultry. They are well protected, so there is no need to slaughter all chickens in them. However, if any chickens in a local farm are affected, then poultry in that farm and within five kilometres will be slaughtered. If more than one farm is infected, all chickens will be slaughtered.