March 26, 2012

Taiwan's New Taipei finds H2N5 in chicken

Following a finding of H5N2 in a chicken sample collected in the market in New Taipei City, it was closed for disinfection, officials said.

But the city officials maintained that the avian flu virus was determined to be of low pathogenicity, and that the chicken came from outside of New Taipei City.

The Cabinet's Council of Agriculture (COA) will trace the origin of the chicken, the officials said.

The sample was collected from the Defu market, a major chicken market in New Taipei City's Sanchong District, as the city stepped up monitoring poultry products after an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N2 was reported in Taiwan.

The COA, after conducting tests on the sample, informed the city government on March 22 that the chicken was infected with H5N2, the officials said.

The city government closed and disinfected the market. Neighboring areas within a three-kilometre radius were also disinfected, and no livestock was found in the areas, the officials added. But as the slaughterhouse attached to the market is illegal, the city plans to demolish it in May.