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Figure 1. Hong Kong poultry markets saw the slaughter of more
than one million birds in 1997 to prevent the spread of the ?bird flu? in
the human population. The 1997 outbreak of the H5N1 influenza virus was the
first direct evidence that avian influenza viruses could be transmitted to
human beings. Eighteen people were infected and six died, suggesting a high
rate of virulence. The extent of the outbreak was curtailed by the destruction
of the birds. At press time, H5N1 has reappeared in Hong Kong poultry farms,
live-bird markets and, most alarmingly, in the area?s free-flying wild birds.
The virus is causing significant mortality in aquatic birds in Kowloon Park.
But to date there is no evidence that this virus has been transmitted to
people. Here author Robert Webster (left)
briefly pauses with a colleague in a wholesale poultry market in 1997 on
the day that all of the live poultry in Hong Kong were destroyed.
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