HONGKONG: Experts were carrying out tests yesterday on dead birds washed up on Hongkong beaches amid fears of a huge unreported avian-flu outbreak in neighboring mainland China.

The discovery of the dead birds - which were being tested for H5N1, the bird-flu strain that can be deadly in humans - brought a warning from one of the territory's top bird-flu experts that "something very terrible" could be happening in China.

Three of 12 birds found on the Hongkong island of Lantau in the past five days have tested positive for H5N1.

Villagers on the island said dead birds have been washing ashore in recent days and they believe they come from China's Pearl River Delta, which flows out into the South China Sea surrounding Hongkong.

On Monday alone, the carcasses of one goose, five chickens, a duck and two birds were found, bringing to 12 the number of dead birds found on Lantau since Thursday.

China has in the past hushed up outbreaks of bird flu and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which was rampant in southern China before it spread to Hongkong and other countries around the world in 2003, killing hundreds of people.

Eight people in China were reported to have died of bird flu in January but, speaking on the government-run radio station RTHK yesterday, infectious diseases expert Lo Wing-Lok warned the outbreak in China could be far bigger than officials admit.

"This is suddenly something very serious," said Lo, a legislator and chairman of the Hongkong Medical Association. "We have to confirm the source of these dead birds, whether it is local or from the mainland.

"If they are from the mainland, something very terrible could be happening across the border."
Lo said there were already indications that "something extraordinary" was happening in China because of the large number of bird-flu cases reported in a short period of time.

"In January, there were eight human cases reported to have come down with H5N1 infection," Lo said. "The source of the infection, of course, is poultry.

"Poultry infection may be widespread in the mainland and because of that, infected birds may find their way across the border through the water currents, through fishing boats, from visitors bringing a few birds at a time. These are all possibilities we need to consider." - dpa