Chairman’s Announcements (24 January 2006)

The Government has inspected 145 chicken farms after the H5N1 virus was found in tests on an oriental magpie robin discovered dead in a village in Tai Po last week.  The checking of chicken farms and bird shops will be stepped up in the next 30 days.  Inspections and testing at chicken farms had not found any abnormal deaths nor signs of Avian Flu.  As Chinese New Year is a peak time for live chicken sales, we should bear in mind to stay away from poultry and eat only thoroughly cooked eggs and poultry.

In 1997, the H5N1 bird flu had infected 18 people in Hong Kong, resulting in six deaths.  Two additional human fatal Avian Flu confirmed cases was announced by Indonesia yesterday.  They were two siblings in a family.  These brought the total number of confirmed cases in Indonesia to 19, of which 14 died.  In China, a woman in Sichuan who developed severe symptoms of pneumonia was confirmed yesterday to be infected with the bird flu.  This is the 10th human H5N1 infected case on the mainland since last year, six were fatal.

Please be reminded to take extra precautions to avoid contact with birds and poultry when traveling, and fill up the Health Declaration Form when you return to your hostels after the long Lunar New Year holidays.  Wishing you all a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year!

Chairman’s Announcement (19 January 2006)

120 countries with 700 delegates and international groups participated in a conference in Beijing yesterday on Prevention of Bird Flu.  A Beijing Declaration was endorsed to take further coordinated actions to strengthen surveillance and diagnostics and develop more capacity in human and veterinary health systems.  Participating countries including US, European Union, Japan and China have agreed to contribute millions of grants to combat the disease and to address social and economic impacts.

New outbreaks in birds and human cases continue to be reported in Turkey and China this week.  There are three additional cases of confirmed human H5N1, two in Turkey and one in Sichuan, China.  Poultry outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 have been confirmed in 12 countries’ 81 provinces.

Students and staff are reminded to take precaution and stay away from poultry when travelling to high risk countries.  Do consider vaccination against Influenza before travel.  The University Health Service offers group vaccination programme on 19 and 20 January 2006.  For details, please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/uhs/dochtml/fluvac_cam_060119.htm

Chairman’s Announcement (12 January 2006)

 The number of reported Avian Flu human cases in China has recently been increased to 8 cases, with five deaths.  The human cases in South East Asia are also increasing, with one death in Indonesia today.  There are 15 reported human cases with three deaths in Turkey up to 10 January 2006.  306,000 birds were being slaughtered to halt its advance.  The continuously reported human cases in Turkey create threat to nearby nations in Europe.   Staff and students are advised to view our website frequently for the update information on the risk of Avian Flu.

 The University Health Service continues to provide vaccination campaign on Influenza on 19 and 20 January 2006 for all staff and students.  Those who have not been immunized since September 2005 are advised to come for vaccination.  For details, please visit the UHS website http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/uhs/dochtml/fluvac_cam_060119.htm

 To provide more information on web-based teaching and assessment in case of class suspension due to SARS/Avian Flu outbreaks, the Information Technology Services Centre will conduct a seminar on “Available solutions to continue teaching in case of SARS/Avian Flu outbreak” on 20 January 2006.  Please refer to http://training.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/coursedetail.aspx?id=ELN0201 for details.

Chairman’s Announcement (9 January 2006)

A warm greetings to you all and welcome back to the second semester after your first term break.  Hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year holidays, and healthy travelling.

The Avian/Bird Flu continued to move westward towards Europe as there were totally seven people suffering from the H5N1 virus in Turkey yesterday.  Twelve more people were considered as "highly probably" and 32 as probable case of the bird flu.  A team of experts from the World Health Organization arrived in Turkey to look for any signs of human to human transmission of the virus.  More than 30,000 fowl have been killed.

In view of the potential risk, we should stay alert of the disease and stay away from fowl, especially during traveling.  After returning, if fever and symptoms of respiratory tract diseases develop, be sure to wear a mask and inform the doctor about the recent travel history.

The University Health Service continues to provide Influenza Vaccination dates for all members of the University.  Please come for vaccination on 19/1/06 & 20/1/06 (Thursday & Friday) if you have not been vaccinated since September 2005.  The venue is at the University Health Centre, and the cost is $60.