Zhejiang Province
# 8797
Zhejiang Province holds the unfortunate distinction of having detected – by far – the most H7N9 human infections to date (see chart below).
Credit Hong Kong’s CHP.
As we saw a couple of weeks ago in CDC: Risk Factors Involved With H7N9 Infection, even casual exposure to poultry in live bird markets was cited as the primary risk factor . . . while people who owned, raised, or slaughtered birds at home, on farms, or in the wild were not found to be at any increased risk.
Adding, at least anecdotally, to the evidence is that the first wave of about 130 human cases tapered off only after aggressive controls on live bird markets were imposed in April and May of 2013 (see The Lancet: Poultry Market Closure Effect On H7N9 Transmission).
Similar measures were taken starting the end of January, 2014 during the peak of the second wave, with similar results.
While H7N9 cases are currently seeing a summer lull, today Zhejiang Province has announced the permanent ban of live poultry trading in `urban areas’. We’ll have to see exactly what constitutes an `urban area’, and how well these laws are enforced, but for now this seems a prudent step.
This from Xinhua News.
Zhejiang bans urban live poultry trading
2014-07-01 19:09:23
HANGZHOU, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Live poultry trading has been banned in urban areas of east China's Zhejiang Province for good from Tuesday to control the spread of bird flu.Zhejiang recorded a higher number of human cases of bird flu infections than any other province in 2013.
Many live poultry markets closed when a bird flu case was found. But markets reopened at a later date.
Fearing the spread of bird flu, Zhejiang has decided to completely close all live poultry markets in urban areas.
From now on, only dead and plucked poultry can be traded in urban markets, according to the provincial government.
Agricultural authorities in Zhejiang have begun to advocate standardized poultry cultivation so meat can be traced back to its producers.
Consumers are worried they may not be able to determine whether dead poultry was healthy, whereas they can when buying live poultry.
The authorities will also develop a process where poultry can be killed and plucked by machines on a large scale.
