HONG KONG, Jan. 4 Kyodo

Hong Kong announced Wednesday no poultry imports from China's Sichuan Province will be allowed, at least for the time being, after a bird flu outbreak was confirmed in the province.

China's Agriculture Ministry confirmed Tuesday that 1,800 birds found dead Dec. 22 had contracted the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus.

Another 12,900 birds in the area were culled five days later.

The ministry notified Hong Kong on Tuesday night of an H5N1 bird flu outbreak among ducks in Sichuan's Dazhu city, a government spokesman said in a statement. The territory currently does not import live poultry or poultry meat from Sichuan.

''But should there be any such applications, they will not be processed for the time being to ensure food safety. We will closely monitor the development of the situation,'' the spokesman said.

No human infection of bird flu was reported in the province.

China reported seven human cases last year; in Anhui, Hunan, Liaoning, the Guangxi autonomous region, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.

Two women from Anhui and a woman from Fujian are known to have died after infection.

A 12-year-old girl from Hunan died in October, but her body was cremated before test results could confirm her infection.

Hong Kong reported 18 cases of humans infected with H5N1 bird flu in 1997. Six of those people died.

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