China’s Ministry of Agriculture says the H7N9 avian influenza virus is of low virulence and the virus has not caused an epidemic situation in poultry.
The ministry has dispatched work groups to local markets and farms across China to collect more samples for H7N9 testing. But the ministry’s chief veterinarian said the virus has so far been contained.
The chief veterinarian, Yu Kangzhen, said, "We have tested more than 1,000 samples. The samples cover chickens, as well as other animals, such as pigs. We have only found positive samples from chickens and pigeons, and the virus has not been found in pigs so far."
Yu said no other cases of H7N9 have been found in animals in China before the first report in Shanghai. According to Yu, the source of infection and modes of transmission remain unclear. The possibility that migratory birds carrying the H7N9 virus into the country couldn’t be ruled out. He also said it’s complicated to determine whether chickens were the source of transmission to humans, or if humans infected chickens.