TAIPEI/HONG KONG, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Fears of an avian flu outbreak have spooked the exotic bird trade in Taiwan and Hong Kong, turning markets eerily quiet and hitting business hard.
Taipei's famous bird street, usually packed with bird lovers, has been largely deserted since the H5N1 virus lethal to humans was found among about 1,000 rare birds smuggled from China in a cargo ship last Thursday, Taiwan's first case in two years.
Officials and shopkeepers said there was little danger of the virus infecting local birds as the smuggled cargo has been destroyed, but people are staying away from the market for now.
"Sales slumped by about 90 percent. There has been virtually no business in the past few days," said Yang Ming-chou, sitting in his noisy store surrounded by parrots and other pet birds in cages.
"I am not afraid of bird flu because I don't think there will be an outbreak," said Yang, who has been selling exotic birds for more than 10 years. He said most of his birds were locally bred.
Taiwan has so far been spared a serious outbreak of H5N1, but more than 60 people in Asia are known to have been killed by the strain. Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that can pass easily from person to person, sparking a worldwide pandemic.
Visitors are also shying away from Hong Kong's famous exotic bird market, where vendors say sales in the past few weeks have fallen by as much as half.
Vendors also complain Hong Kong's government has been quietly rejecting many requests for permits to import pet birds for at least a year.
"Of course we are afraid of the bird flu because no one is coming here. People are just scared of all they see on the news. Sales are down by at least half," said Wong Fai, a 50-year-old vendor in Hong Kong.
"I have not imported anything for a year now. These are all from my regular customers trying to get rid of their pets," he said, pointing to the cages of parrots, budgerigars and a few prized songbirds surrounding his tiny hole-in-the-wall shop.
Shop owners in Taipei's bird street said they have taken flu vaccines and disinfected their surroundings more regularly, but few wear masks or gloves when touching their birds.
"If the situation continues, we will be forced to close. We may be out of business before we see an outbreak," Yang said.
PIGEON RACES PROCEED
Despite the worries, organisers of a high-stakes pigeon-racing contest in southern Taiwan remained undaunted.
Gambling on the races is popular and star pigeons are worth tens of thousands of Taiwan dollars.
"We see no reason to stop the race because of bird flu," said Tsai Fu-you, an organiser for the race involving an estimated 50,000 domestic pigeons.
The race commenced this week and lasts for five weeks.
"Racing pigeons are valuable assets to their owners, who take their health very seriously. Sick pigeons can't win," Tsai said.
Last week, Australia found a group of racing pigeons from Canada that have been exposed to diseases including bird flu.
The H5N1 avian flu virus made its first known jump to humans in 1997 in Hong Kong, killing six people. It resurfaced in late 2003 in South Korea and has hit as far west as European Russia, Turkey and Romania, tracking the paths of migratory birds.
Concerns grew this week after an imported South American parrot died in quarantine in Britain from the H5N1 virus.
European Union veterinary experts will soon discuss a temporary ban on live captive and wild birds.
Hong Kong, which culled its entire poultry population in 1997 to avert what could have been a major epidemic, has been quietly keeping the disease at bay.
It has banned imports of live birds from places with H5N1 outbreaks, including Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, and has sometimes opted for caution when confronted with countries with no known outbreaks.
A Hong Kong government spokesman said imports of pet birds were banned from provinces in China with outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu. More than 220 swab samples are collected each month.
"Over the past nine months, more than 200 tests have also been done on samples taken from imported pet birds and none contained avian flu viruses," the government spokesman said.
