Via The Poultry Site: Positive Global Outlook Threatened by Bird Flu in China. Excerpt:
The Chinese poultry industry has been suffering ever since the official announcement of H7N9 in March, which has so far resulted in 130 human cases and claimed the lives of 36 people as of 20 May.
As a consequence of falling demand, prices collapsed and farmers have commenced a large scale slaughtering of birds with no replenishment to broods as they adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Local governments in affected areas have extended help to the sector to limit the impact on the industry, this assistance come in the form of purchasing programs or compensation offered to poultry merchants in return for slaughtering their stocks.
Whilst consumers remain wary, the initial panic appears to be waning as the pace of growth of new infections has slowed. Still, in just 6 weeks after the first case was confirmed, China's poultry industry has suffered losses amounting to RMB 40 billion (USD 6.5 billion).
The Chinese government has reacted to concerns about the negative industry impact of the outbreak - namely future supply concerns - by implementing a new RMB 600 million breeding programme aimed at preventing shortages when markets recover. This support programme has led to some price recovery recently, but prices remain low.
