China Shuts Down Poultry Trade

Beijing bans poultry trading, breeding to combat bird flu:

DUE to bird flu outbreaks in Anhui, Hunan, Liaoning provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Beijing yesterday closed all market trade in live poultry and ruled out poultry breeding in its urban areas. The move, which stopped poultry products from entering the national capital, signals the country's reinforced alertness against the epidemic. Based on the bird flu prevention and control mechanism, Beijing also banned flying pet birds and temporarily closed all bird markets.

The Chinese government has set aside 2 billion yuan (US$247 million) from its annual budget for nationwide bird flu control and prevention, according to a State Council meeting. The meeting urged local governments to establish an emergency epidemic prevention and reporting mechanism for alerts of bird flu outbreaks.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce said that in a first-grade bird flu alarm, the administration's local branches should immediately cull poultry in the bird flu-hit region, close poultry markets within a 10-square-kilometer area, and report human infection cases within six hours after the breakout.