Worries over the spread of bird flu in China caused market jitters among livestock, hotel and catering, airline and tourism stocks on Monday.
As the H7N9 bird flu virus has infected more than 20 Chinese, some sectors of China's economy have also come under the shadow of the outbreak.
A picture circulating on the Internet of a worker at a Shanghai university destroying birds' nests on campus to avoid spreading the H7N9 bird flu virus has triggered heated discussions.
Two more H7N9 infection cases have been confirmed in East China's Jiangsu province, local authorities said Monday.
China is more prepared in handling public health emergencies than a decade ago when it fought the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a senior health official said Monday.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday commended China's quick notification of human cases of the A(H7N9) bird flu virus.
China's agricultural authorities said Friday the infectious H7N9 virus has been detected in another 19 samples collected at the same marketplace in Shanghai.
No close contacts with the 14 confirmed avian influenza H7N9 cases in China have been tested positive for the new virus to date, WHO said on Friday.
Taiwan was on high alert against H7N9 bird flu as the mainland reported increasing number of cases while cross-strait travelers were rising during the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday.
The news of two men dying from a new variant of bird flu has reminded Chinese of the SARS pandemic that hit the country one decade ago. Many are wondering if the government will handle the situation any better than it did in 2003, should another pandemic break out.
China's Ministry of Agriculture said Wednesday that epidemiological investigations have found no H7N9 bird flu infections in animals.
Hospital sources in East China's Jiangsu province said Wednesday that the five patients who have been diagnosed with the lesser-known H7N9 bird flu remain in critical condition.