HK experts cite "prayer bird" concerns over H5N1

HONG KONG, Jan 16 (Reuters) Hong Kong should tighten imports of wild birds from China, which are released en masse at Buddhist religious rites, due to the risk they could spread bird flu to poultry, experts say.

Six scaly-breasted munias -- a popular species of ''prayer birds'' used for release in Buddhist rituals to enhance a devotee's karma -- were found dead in a busy shopping on New Year's eve, including one which tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

''We really have to seriously consider this possibility of (prayer bird) infection,'' said Malik Peiris, a virologist and leading bird flu expert at the University of Hong Kong.

''In Hong Kong, there is no H5N1 activity in poultry. So for this bird that was found dead, the question is how (it) got infected?'' Prayer bird species range from munias, Japanese white-eye, white-rumped munia and tree sparrows costing as little as HK four dollars each, to the more expensive azure-winged magpies and Mongolian larks. Hunters in China use large fine ''mist'' nets that the birds fly into.

While the Hong Kong government tightly regulates poultry imports, laws for wild bird imports are much more lax, making it a potential crack in the city's bird flu defences.

The territory banned imports of poultry from Japan yesterday after a fresh outbreak of bird flu there, the South China Morning Post reported.

BIG TRADE Richard Corlett, a professor of ecology at the University of Hong Kong, said the trade in wild birds was on a much larger scale than previously thought, with at least half a million birds freed by Buddhists in 2005, sometimes thousands at a time.

''Mongolian larks, for instance, must have been caught in northern China, trucked down to Hong Kong then released here in a totally unsuitable environment, where they promptly die.'' Mass bird release sites in quiet corners of Hong Kong's country parks are often littered with discarded empty bamboo cages and dead bird carcasses, Corlett added.

Hong Kong's concerns come as the European Union passed new laws last week banning imports of wild birds on health and animal welfare grounds, a move which Corlett said the Hong Kong government should follow.

''There's a great deal of reluctance to acknowledge this is a problem ... You can go and buy 10,000 budgerigars and release them in a country park and there's nothing to stop you doing that,'' Corlett said.

Some experts see unregulated imports of wild birds as a serious bird flu risk. ''This speculation or hypothesis is becoming more and more of a concern. There is more evidence to support this,'' said Dr Lo Wing-lok an infectious diseases expert and former legislator.

The government has not said whether it would consider a ban on wild bird imports but has urged Buddhist organisations not to release such birds in future.

Hong Kong reported 17 cases of wild birds with H5N1 infection last year. The H5N1 virus made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people and leading to a mass culling of poultry.

REUTERS BDP BD1257