After discussions with relevant mainland departments, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) will resume imports of live poultry from mainland China on 1 June.

The batch of live poultry imported on that day will be kept in the wholesale market for quarantine, and will be available for sale in the market on 2 June provided the quarantine results is normal.

The IACM detected H7 subtype avian influenza virus in the environment samples from three poultry booths in Patane Provisional Market a month ago. To ensure public heath and safety, the Government immediately activated the emergency mechanism, and decided to temporarily suspend live poultry trade in Macao on 19 April.

The IACM also carried out cleaning and sterilisation at wholesale, slaughtering and retail premises, while the Health Bureau conducted medical surveillance of poultry retailers in Patane Provisional Market.

Before resuming retail of live poultry, the poultry booths in wet markets will again be thoroughly cleaned and sterilised. Currently, poultry booths are cleaned and sterilised every day after market closure, and large-scale cleaning and sterilisation is conducted biweekly.

To minimise the risk of spread of virus, poultry booths at the eight wet markets and the wholesale market in Macao also undergo large-scale cleaning and sterilisation on the same day, to break the biological chain of the virus in order to protect citizens’ health and environmental hygiene.

As sporadic cases of avian flu have recently occurred in neighbouring areas, the IACM actively communicates with the mainland departments regarding setting up long-term measures to ensure stable imports of live poultry.

In future, if there are positive test results for H5 or H7 subtype avian influenza viruses in samples from wet markets, shops or other retail venues, and the samples are proved to be from live poultry that was held under normal quarantine, imports from the registered source of the poultry will be suspended. This will enable the source of the virus to be traced, after reaching a consensus with the relevant mainland inspection and quarantine institutions. Both the authorities in the mainland and Macao should then confirm whether the source is suitable for supplying poultry. Imports of live poultry from other registered farms will resume in three days, after thorough cleaning and sterilisation.