Hong Kong said Thursday it was suspending all imports of poultry from Britain following a bird flu outbreak there.

The southern Chinese city's Centre for Food Safety said the processing of all applications for importing poultry and poultry products from the United Kingdom would be halted with immediate effect.

"The decision was taken following confirmation of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza H7 on a farm in Oxfordshire," a spokesman said.

Hong Kong imported about 4,300 tonnes of frozen poultry products from Britain in 2007, itsaid inastatement.

The move follows Japan's suspension of imports and comes after the British authorities confirmed that avian influenza had been discovered in chickens in southern England, although it was not the virulent H5N1 strain that sometimes claims human lives.

Preliminary tests were positive for the H7 strain, which

poses a low risk to humans, the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement posted on its website.