Nanjing shuts down poultry markets

NANJING - All live poultry trade should be suspended and poultry markets shut down temporarily in the capital city of East China's H7N9 bird flu-afflicted Jiangsu province, according to a government statement.

The Nanjing government announced in a statement Monday that all wholesale and retail poultry and bird markets should suspend trading and be disinfected.

Feeding poultry and pigeons is also banned in urban areas. Poultry from other cities is also banned from entering Nanjing, according to the statement.

All kinds of bird performances have been ordered to be suspended, it said.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement that as of 5 pm Sunday, 10 H7N9 cases, including four that ended in deaths, had been reported in Shanghai. Three cases, including two that ended in deaths, had been reported in east China's Zhejiang province. Jiangsu province has reported six cases and Anhui province has reported one.