Quarantine officials step up vigilance.

Byline: Louella D. Desiderio

THE BUREAU of Animal Industry (BAI) has ordered quarantine officials at all ports of entry to be more vigilant by conducting more thorough inspections of passenger bags and packages to prevent the entry of chicken from Hong Kong after authorities there found a dead chicken positive for bird flu virus.

"We have an import ban on chicken and other poultry products from Hong Kong and China for we consider them avian influenza-affected countries, but I still gave an instruction to quarantine officials to be more vigilant and to look more closely at those coming from Hong Kong," BAI Director Efren C. Nuestro said last week.

Mr. …