# 2758
From the Wikipedia
Hong Kong, which lies at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), has discovered at least 20 dead birds along the shores of Lantau Island, 6 of which have (so far) tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.
The suspicion is that up river, somewhere in Guangdong Province, infected birds are ending up in the river and washing out to sea.
Chinese officials on the mainland continue to deny that they've had any outbreaks in poultry.
While Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese control in 1997, they have their own administrative government, and have often been left `out of the loop' when it comes to information from Beijing.
The phrase, `One Nation, Two Systems' has been used to describe the relationship between Hong Kong and the Mandarin rulers in Beijing.
Hong Kong residents enjoy freedoms not available on the mainland, but this has resulted in a certain degree of compartmentalization of information, along with political access and power.
The bitter experience of SARS in 2003, where Hong Kong hospitals were never warned about the outbreaks on the mainland, remains a fresh memory.
All of which may help explain the open skepticism being voiced regarding Beijing's denials of bird flu outbreaks in Guangdong Province.
Deadly tide of birds fuels fears of bird flu cover-up - Feature
Posted : Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:29:59 GMT
Author : DPA
Hong Kong - For more than a week now a deadly tide has been washing out of China into the sea surrounding Hong Kong, bringing with it growing fears that China is in the grip of a covered-up bird-flu outbreak. With each day that passes, more dead birds, ducks and chickens washed up on the beaches of Hong Kong, suggesting that H5N1-infected birds may have been dumped into the China's polluted Pearl River and carried by the tide to Hong Kong waters.
China has insisted there are no bird-flu outbreaks in China, despite eight human cases in January alone this year.
But experts fear the tide of death washing out of southern China shows that China is once again covering up another major public health catastrophe.
I'm not sure that 20 dead birds over a week's period, 6 of which have (thus far) tested positive for the H5N1 virus, constitute a `Deadly Tide' - but it is certainly a worrisome development.
And it calls into question the `official' Chinese story.
Meanwhile, the discover of the carcass of an H5N1 infected heron in the nearby Mai Po Nature Reserve has initiated a three-week closure of the bird sanctuary to visitors.
Hong Kong reserve closed amid bird flu tests
Agence France-Presse | 02/06/2009 7:17 PM
HONG KONG - A Hong Kong bird sanctuary has been closed for three weeks after a dead grey heron found there tested positive for the H5 bird flu virus, authorities said Friday.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said further tests would determine if it was the deadly H5N1 strain, but that the Mai Po reserve would be closed to visitors as a precautionary measure.
"We will monitor the situation closely and review the closure period as necessary," a departmental spokeswoman added.
The reserve is located in the northwestern corner of Hong Kong and has been known as a haven for migratory birds for decades.
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