Hong Kong lifts ban on Chinese chicken imports

The authorities in Hong Kong have announced that they will lift a ban on the imports of chickens from mainland China imposed last month because of fears of the spread of a new, deadly form of influenza known as bird flu.

A spokesman Michael Suen told reporters that imports could begin in two weeks' time ,on the seventh of February,.

The announcement came as a World Health Organisation team said its inspections in China had found no evidence of the disease in humans there.

Hong Kong health officials said last week they believed the worst of the outbreak was over following the mass slaughter of chickens in the territory.

Six people have been killed by the virus.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service