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Officials To Kill All Live Poultry To Race To Prevent Disease Spread

Hong Kong- The deadly Hong Kong flu has been detected in Hong Kong, and officials are in a mild panic as they try to make sure that the dread disease does not spread.

Health officials in Hong Kong detected the H5N1 in birds found at a chicken market stall in the Kowloon area, and immediately ordered the slaughter and disposal of more than 2,700 of the animals in the village where it was found.

The H5N1 virus is a particularly virulent version of the flu, which is sometimes fatal, and is known worldwide as the bird flu.

It is a flu that is spread most often in birds, hence the name, and while it can make the jump to humans, it has not done so in any great numbers.

Health officials around the world dread the day that the H5N1 virus makes the jump to humans and mutates to an easily spread form. It is feared that if such a situation ever develops that there would be a possible worldwide pandemic, of which there is currently no vaccination that is successful against the H5N1 influenza virus.

No humans have been affected in the current outbreak, but health officials in Hong Kong are not taking any chances, especially with the world traveling to China for the Olympics in August.

Health Officials are ordering the destruction of any live chickens or caged birds in the Kowloon region, and holding their breath hoping that they have caught the current virus before it strikes any human victims.