HONG KONG - HONG KONG, hoping to stop the spread of the feared H5N1 bird flu virus among the city's many markets, will begin culling live poultry across the city, government officials said on Wednesday.

Hong Kong last week found H5N1 at a poultry stall in one of the many so-called wet markets and ordered the culling of 2,700 birds.

But the virus had since spread among the island's poultry population and mass cullings were now necessary as a precaution, they told reporters.

Officials did not say if any people had been infected.

Since the H5N1 virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003, it has killed 241 people in a dozen countries, according to the World Health Organisation. Experts fear the constantly mutating H5N1 virus could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person. This could sweep the world, killing millions. -- REUTERS