Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department suspended poultry and egg imports from regions recently hit with outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

Suspensions have been issued for products coming from New Castle County in the state of Delaware, and Greene County of the state of Indiana in the US. Imports from Salzlandkreis District of State of Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany and Indre-et-Loire Department and Mayenne Department in France have also been suspended.

A CFS spokesperson said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 260 tonnes of chilled poultry meat, about 17 090 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 649.21 million poultry eggs from the US, about 470 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 1.06 million poultry eggs from Germany, and about 60 tonnes of chilled poultry meat, about 4 710 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 240 000 poultry eggs from France last year.

"The CFS has contacted the American, German and French authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks," the spokesperson said. "Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation."