Opinion | Guangdong slow to apply lessons learnt on bird flu
Province known for its taste for fresh poultry has not gone as far as others to prevent spread
Following the recent news of more bird flu cases in Guangdong - two of them Hong Kong residents who contracted the disease in Shenzhen -authorities in the province appear to be making serious efforts to contain the outbreak.
But questions remain about whether these will be sufficient to fix the problem permanently.
All live poultry markets were asked to close on Monday for disinfection after the province confirmed its sixth case of the H7N9 bird flu virus since August. That's not counting the Hongkongers, including an 80-year-old man who died on Thursday. The markets will close for a day before New Year's Day and before the Lunar New Year.
Live poultry markets were also ordered to strictly follow new rules, including cleaning cages daily and closing for disinfection every three months.
The move is intended to quell fears that the virus is spreading. Four new cases were discovered in the province in this month alone. Officials announced on December 11 that three samples taken at live poultry markets in Shenzhen's Longgang district tested positive for H7N9. Experts said the risk was high that new cases could emerge at any time.
So, can Guangdong's new containment measures stop the spread of H7N9 in the province? No one can say for sure, but their measures fall short of what Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing did in similar circumstances.
Beijing has banned selling live poultry since 2005, although vendors selling live chickens still appear at times in wet markets.
