After a 21-day suspension due to a bird flu case, live poultry shipments from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong resumed on Monday, regulators said on Tuesday.

Hong Kong authorities allowed imports to resume, as no new outbreaks had been reported, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) said in a statement.

Local health officials said on Dec. 9 that some 100 breeding and sentry chickens had died at a live poultry farm in Hong Kong and lab tests showed samples from the dead birds were H5-positive.

Authorities suspended imports of live poultry to the city and the trading of live poultry on local markets for 21 days.

About 7,000 chickens, 10,000 chicks, 4,800 pigeons and 1,300 ring-necked pheasants were shipped to Hong Kong from the mainland on Monday morning, said the GAQSIQ.

Quality supervisors have strengthened quarantine and border checks on live poultry supplied to Hong Kong and are closely monitoring the local market situation, it said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2008)