(Adds details, quotes) HONG KONG, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong confirmed on Wednesday that a bird of prey found in the city carried the H5N1 virus, the second such case this month. The dead crested goshawk was found on a hill behind a health clinic in the built-up Shek Kip Mei district in Kowloon on Jan 9. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department confirmed the bird was infected with H5N1. Another bird, a scaly breasted munia, also tested positive for the H5N1 virus on Jan. 6. It had been found dead along with five other munias in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay on New Year's Eve. The other birds tested negative. Bird flu experts said the munias might have been imported as so-called "prayer birds", which are released by Buddhists seeking blessings as part of religious rites to boost one's karma. The University of Hong Kong's department of ecology and biodiversity has estimated that at least half a million so called "prayer birds", including munia species, were released in Hong Kong in 2005. There have been growing calls to stem the religious practice given the bird flu risks, including possible contagion to wild birds of prey such as the goshawk. "These sick birds flying very slow ... became easy prey for this goshawk," said infectious diseases expert and former legislator Dr. Lo Wing-lok. "And this goshawk, after consuming these birds with (the) virus, may themselves have become ill. This is the most likely explanation," he added. The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people and leading to a mass culling of poultry. So far, it has not been able to pass easily from human to human, but experts fear the virus could mutate and cause a pandemic, potentially killing millions of people. Whilst Hong Kong does periodically find H5N1-infected wild birds, the discovery of the infected munia was the first such case in 10 months. Seventeen wild birds tested positive for H5N1 in Hong Kong last year.
