Chinese slaughter 20,000 birds over flu fears

Officials have closed Shanghai’s poultry market and slaughtered more than 20,000 birds as the death toll from a new outbreak of bird flu rose to six.

Huhai market for live birds was closed after authorities detected traces of the H7N9 virus in pigeons, according to the Xinhua state news agency.

Live poultry trading sections of two markets in the city’s Minhang district have also been shuttered. Online videos showed groups of workers in protective suits shoving chicken carcasses into rubbish bags.

Since last month, 14 cases of H7N9 infection have been reported in Shanghai and four eastern provinces, the first time the strain has been detected in humans.

Chinese health authorities are actively monitoring 400 people who have been in contact with H7N9 patients, according to the World Health Organisation, which has said the virus cannot be transmitted from person to person.

Scientists, however, are particularly concerned about two of the virus’s traits. H7N9 does not show symptoms in infected birds, allowing it to spread rapidly without detection. And it seems to be mutating quickly, meaning it could become contagious among humans.

According to Xinhua, Shanghai’s health authorities announced on Thursday night that someone who had close contact with one of the city’s H7N9 victims was being treated for flu-like symptoms.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it was developing a vaccine for the virus.

– ( Guardian service)