Bird flu H7N9 yesterday claimed the life of another victim while 5 new cases of the infection were reported in China.
The latest outbreak of bird flu in the country, has claimed in total 10 victims, while a total of 38 infections have been reported.
All cases of the infection have been reported in Eastern China, in cities including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Yangzhou, and Nanjing.
Shanghai, along with all cities in Jiangsu and neighbouring provinces have banned the sale of poultry to prevent the spread of the infection.
More than 20,000 poultry have been slaughtered in the city in the past week, with the Shanghai municipal government saying that it would help poultry farms by providing them with subsidies of 15RMB (USD$2.4) for each bird they have kept in stock during this month. Farmers are set to receive 3RMB for each egg laying hen.
The government is also purchasing chickens from farmers at a set price to help poultry farmers offset losses, and are compensating poultry merchants for the slaughtering of their poultry stocks at no less than 50% of the products' market prices.
The FAO have initiated a surveillance program in neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, in order top prevent any potential spread of the disease.
Hong Kong has also begun the testing of live poultry imported into the country for the H7N9 virus, in addition to the regular tests for the H5 virus. There are approximately 7,000 live chickens imported into Hong Kong from the mainland every day, however this figure has droped by 4,000 in the last week.
