Goose meat tests positive for H7N9 in Guangdong

Samples of goose meat taken from a Guangzhou market in south China's Guangdong province have tested positive for H7N9 avian influenza.

Two goose meat samples and one sewage water sample from two poultry booths in a wet market in Zengcheng, a suburb of Guangzhou, tested positive, the Guangdong Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Sunday.

"It's serious that the water sample test is positive, because it means all the birds inside coops have the possibility of being infected with H7N9 avian influenza. The longer they stay in the coops, the risk of being infected rises," said Yang Zhicong, deputy chief of the Guangzhou municipal CDCP. The city government of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, is tracking the poultry source. The market was shut down on Saturday for three days so disinfection and cleaning can take place.