science · 29 December 1997 · 27 years ago
In 1997, Hong Kong began killing its entire chicken population of up to 1.4 million birds to stem the spread of a mysterious avian flu that had already killed four people. The Hong Kong government decision came after birds at two sites were found to be infected with the H5N1 virus. Nothing, animate or inanimate, could be moved in or out of those two infected sites without permission. Birds at the territory's 200 chicken and mixed poultry farms were to be placed in sealed containers and gassed. Owners of close to 1,000 provision shops and market stalls were ordered to kill their stock. The disinfected carcases were sealed in plastic bags and buried at six landfill sites. The government compensated those whose stock was destroyed.
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