First live poultry H7 flu case in 2017

Macau will suspend its live poultry trade for at least three days immediately after a chicken sample tested positive for the H7 strain of bird flu yesterday. Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau chief, José Tavares, told the press that the flu-positive chicken were imported from the Chinese mainland and all poultry markets in Macau will receive strict sterilization procedure. He said all markets in Macau will suspend live poultry trade for at least three days. The bureau said they have sealed the market where the positive sample was found, and no infected birds have entered retail markets. Some 14,000 chicken and 4,000 pigeons in the market will be culled. The Health Bureau said a driver from the Chinese mainland has been recognized as having had close contact. The driver had return to the mainland and the bureau already reported the situation to mainland authorities. This is the first time in 2017 that Macau suspended its live poultry trade because of bird flu report. In 2016, the region had three suspensions of the live poultry trade for this reason.