A sixth death has been announced by the government of China after the bird flu scare in the country on April 5, 2013. Due to this, the authorities have started to slaughter all poultry at the Shanghai market where many viruses were detected in the pigeons that were sold for meat.
So far, the mass bird killing is the first from the Chinese government, in response to the H7N9 strain of bird flu, which has already victimised 14 people, out of which many are critically ill. The first of these cases was announced on March 31, 2013.
According to the health officials, so far people are being infected through direct contact and there has been no evidence that the virus is spreading between people. Scientists are closely observing the situation and are studying to see if the flu poses a substantial risk to public health, or whether it can have the potential to spark a global pandemic.
The ministry of Agriculture, on April 4, 2013, confirmed that the H7N9 virus has been detected in live pigeons on sale at a produce market on Shanghai. The government had already started the killing birds at the Huhuai market in Shanghai on Thursday night, after an order from the agricultural committee.
