The emergence of H5N1 infl uenza in humans for the fi rst time occurred in 1997 in Hong Kong. Eighteen people admitted with a respiratory illness were found to be H5N1 positive. Six of them (33%) died. This outbreak was epidemiologically linked to H5N1 infection in a live bird market in Hong Kong. At this time 1.4 million poultry was culled in Hong Kong, the market was disinfected and import of poultry from mainland China was halted. This outbreak was successfully controlled with these measures [1].