Macao’s wet markets will resume retail sales of live poultry tomorrow (7 July), after it was confirmed that poultry imported today was disease-free.

The batch of live birds – including a total of 7,500 chickens and 1,920 pigeons – was imported from Zhuhai Prefecture, and is the first such import since a ban in Macao on sales of live poultry was introduced on 22 June.

To safeguard public health, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau has increased its checks, in order to monitor a larger number of the poultry animals that are imported to Macao and are stored in the city’s wholesale market prior to sale in neighbourhood wet markets.

All Macao wet market stalls that usually sell live poultry have undergone thorough cleaning and sterilisation since the ban on sales of live birds was imposed on 22 June.

Under current policy, all stalls in wet markets must be cleaned after every business day, and via a large-scale sterilisation every two weeks. Additionally, the wholesale market is cleaned thoroughly every two weeks.

On 22 June the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau found an environmental sample from a live poultry stall at the Iao Hon Market that tested positive for avian influenza virus; an H7 subtype. A public health contingency response was immediately put into effect: measures taken included a ban on sales of live poultry in markets, and a cull of 9,000 birds at Macao’s wholesale market.