The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has lowered the response level of the Preparedness Plan for Influenza Pandemic from "Serious" to " Alert."

A spokesman for the Center for Health Protection of the Department of Health said Wednesday that the "Alert" response level was activated in view of the ongoing activity of highly pathogenic avian influenza among poultry outside Hong Kong.

"We will continue to closely monitor the global situation of avian influenza. So far, there is no evidence of efficient human- to-human transmission," the spokesman said.

The response level was raised to "Serious" upon the detection of the first confirmed human case of avian influenza (H7N9) in winter, imported from the Chinese mainland on Dec. 27, 2014.

Since then Hong Kong has recorded three confirmed cases, which were all imported. The latest case was confirmed on Feb. 23. The surveillance system of local public and private hospitals has not detected any new cases for more than a month.