Shanghai considers permanent ban on sale of live poultry
As death toll from H7N9 bird flu rises to nine, with 20 others infected, Shanghai considers permanent ban on selling birds in wet markets
Shanghai authorities are considering a permanent ban on the sale of live poultry in the city, as the death toll from the H7N9 avian flu virus continues to rise.
Authorities said yesterday the virus had claimed its eighth and ninth victims - an 83-year-old man from Suzhou , Jiangsu , who died a week after testing positive for the virus, and a 35-year-old woman from Chuzhou, Anhui.
Four more infections with the new bird flu strain were also confirmed yesterday. In Shanghai, authorities said two local men, aged 62 and 77, were being treated for the virus and were in stable condition. In Zhejiang province, a 51-year-old woman in Huzhou and a 79-year-old man in Hangzhou were found to have the viris.
Twenty-nine people have now been diagnosed with the bird fllu.
The director of Shanghai's agriculture commission, Sun Lei , said it would consider a public consultation on a permanent ban for the live-poultry trade, after 20 samples taken from wet markets tested positive for H7N9, according to the .
A total of 7,185 samples were collected by yesterday and included pigeons, chickens and feathers, the reported. More than 111,000 birds have been culled in the city since Thursday.
