Transcript of remarks by SFH at media session

     Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, regarding an African Swine Fever laboratory test result at the Central Government Offices tonight (May 10) :
 
Reporter: Can you talk about the situation? What measures are you going to take to prevent the spread of the disease? Would you stop the import of pork from the infected area?
 
Secretary for Food and Health: The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) confirmed this afternoon that African Swine Fever (ASF) virus was found in a pig in Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse (SSSH). I just now chaired an inter-departmental meeting with the AFCD and the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to discuss the response actions and follow-up work. In order to minimise the risk of ASF virus spreading from the slaughterhouse, all pigs in SSSH will be culled so that thorough cleansing and disinfection could be conducted. The operation of SSSH will be suspended until the completion of disinfection work. We envisage that fresh pork supply will be reduced in the near future. However, as Tsuen Wan Slaughterhouse is not affected and will operate as normal, there will still be a limited supply of live pigs to the market. We would like to reiterate that ASF will not be transmitted to human and hence posing no food safety risk. Well-cooked pork is safe for consumption. Finally, we will enhance the surveillance and testing of pigs. Currently, we collect samples from pigs with ASF symptoms for testing. In the future, we will step up the sampling of other pigs for testing.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)