Hong Kong has suspended imports of poultry meat and eggs from the Rural Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth following a confirmed outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in commercial poultry.
The suspension, announced today, was prompted by a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health, according to a press release from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has instructed that poultry and poultry product trade (including eggs) from the RM stop, the release said.
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“The CFS has contacted the Canadian authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” a spokesperson from the agency said.
The Hong Kong agency further noted that, by their government’s numbers, Hong Kong had not brought over any poultry meat or eggs from Canada in the first quarter of 2025.
Both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Hong Kong government improperly referred to the region as the RM of Wallace. The municipality’s name was changed to the RM of Wallace-Woodworth following municipal amalgamations in the mid-2010s. The CFIA’s control zone maps show infections in the RM of Wallace-Woodworth region.
Manitoba bird flu
Manitoba has two active bird flu cases as of the latest update from the CFIA. Of those, only one is a commercial poultry operation in the RM of Wallace-Woodworth, confirmed May 2. The other case was confirmed May 6 in non-commercial poultry in the RM of Boisevain-Morton.
Nationally, the CFIA is tracking 17 actively infected sites, the largest number of which are in Ontario.
Watch the Manitoba Co-operator for more on this story.
