Hong Kong government said Monday it has conducted regular inspections of pet bird stalls and urged them to take measures against bird flu.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said regular inspections were taken, though more than 220 swab samples collected from local pet bird stalls for tests of highly pathogenic avian flu viruses each month were all negative.

A spokesman for the Department said that over the past nine months, more than 200 tests had been done on samples taken from imported pet birds and none contained avian flu viruses.

The Department urged the public to observe good personal hygiene, washing their hands thoroughly after having contact with pet birds, since the disease has made its way across the globe to Europe.

Besides, The Standard, a local English newspaper said Monday a leading Hong Kong microbiologist warned that Mai Po nature reserve, which hosted some 100,000 migratory birds annually, could become a reservoir for the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus.

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2005)