Macao will suspend all its live poultry trade for at least three days immediately after chicken sample tested positive for H7 strain of bird flu on Friday, the special administrative region's civil affairs and health authorities said on Friday.
Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau chief Jose Maria da Fonseca Tavares told the press that the flu-positive sample were imported from Chinese mainland and all poultry markets in Macao will receive strict sterilization procedure.
He said all markets in Macao will suspend live poultry trade for at least three days.
The bureau added that they have closed the market where the positive sample was found, and no infected birds has entered retail markets. Some 8,200 chicken and 2,100 pigeons in that market will be culled soon.
Macao's Health Bureau said two drivers and two loading workers from Chinese mainland have been recognized as close contacts. They had return to Chinese mainland and the bureau already reported the situation to mainland authorities.
This is the second time in 2017 that Macao suspends its live poultry trade because of bird flu report. On Jan. 26, Macao had suspended the live poultry trade for three days for the same reason.
