The Health, Welfare & Food Bureau has suspended the processing of applications for the import of poultry and poultry meat from Inner Mongolia and British Columbia, Canada.

It follows a confirmed H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in Morin Dawa County in Inner Mongolia and the discovery of a low pathogenic H5 strain in a domestic duck at a Canadian poultry farm.

Only small amounts of frozen poultry are imported to Hong Kong from the two areas.