Hong Kong suspends imports of poultry from mainland China

Hong Kong Tuesday suspended imports of fresh poultry from mainland China, after the discovery of H7N9 bird flu virus in a batch of live chicken imported from the southern province of Guangdong, according to news reports.

Hong Kong also began culling 20,000 chickens.

The measure came as more human infection cases were reported in the mainland.

So far this year, east China’s Zhejiang province has seen new H7N9 cases for 18 consecutive days with a total of 49 cases and 12 deaths, chinanews.com reported Monday. Four deaths have been were reported in Guangdong province and Shanghai each.

China’s State Council has called on local authorities to keep up a high alert against H7N9 cases, Chinese media said.

In early December last year, Hong Kong confirmed its first human infection with a deadly strain of bird flu. A domestic helper from Indonesia contracted the H7N9 virus after traveling to Shenzhen in Guangdong province, where he encountered live poultry, officials said.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com