Taiwan to ban slaughtering poultry at markets

TAIPEI - Concerns about the H7N9 bird flu have prompted Taiwan to impose a ban on slaughtering live poultry at traditional markets from June 17.

The move is a preventive effort aimed at limiting contact between human beings and poultry, and live poultry will be sent to designated slaughterhouses, Huang Kwo-ching, an official with the island's agricultural authority, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Huang said the ban could be imposed earlier than planned, depending on the spread of the H7N9 virus, which has led to the deaths of 14 people on the mainland as of Tuesday.

So far, no cases have been confirmed on the island, he said.

The island's disease control authorities said Tuesday that Taiwan will soon obtain samples of the H7N9 virus from the mainland that could be used to develop vaccines.

Chang Feng-yee, chief of the island's disease control authority, said the mainland has set the virus delivery date, which Chang refused to reveal.

According to the latest survey conducted by the island's disease control command center, 71 percent of the 1,293 Taiwan people surveyed are concerned that the H7N9 bird flu outbreak will hit Taiwan, while more than 30 percent have reduced their consumption of eggs and poultry products.