H7 bird flu | Live poultry sales halted until tomorrow

IACM staff disinfects the Nam Yue Wholesale Market and culls live poultry in an attempt to control the influenza virus

The heads of the Health Bureau, Lei Chin Ion (2nd from left), and of the IACM, Alex Wong (2nd from right), held a press conference to explain the measures implemented

Sales of live poultry in Macau are suspended until at least tomorrow after authorities detected the avian influenza subtype H7 in a local market on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued yesterday by the Government Information Bureau, in order to safeguard public safety and minimize the risk of having the virus spread, authorities culled more than 15,000 chickens at the wholesale market in Macau, where birds imported from the mainland are kept before being put onto the local market.
The action was carried out shortly after an environmental sample taken from a live poultry stall at the Patane Temporary Market tested positive for the H7 subtype virus.
Representatives from Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) confirmed at a press conference that the chickens suspected of being infected with the virus came from a farm in Gaoming District in Guangdong. IACM informed the mainland authorities about the case.
An IACM official stated that the local government decided to temporarily suspend live poultry sales for three days. .
A public health contingency mechanism was implemented once the virus was detected, including suspending imports from the suspected farm and a thorough cleaning and sanitization of all the poultry wholesale outlets including live poultry stalls in local markets.
The health bureau said that three employees who were in contact with the live poultry would be placed under a 10-day medical surveillance at the Conde S. Januário Hospital.
The authorities urge those who have been to the infected stall and the Patane Temporary Market on Wednesday to contact the Health Bureau or call the enquiry hotline (2870 0800) should symptoms such as fever or cough develop.