Via Xinhua: China Focus: China closes poultry markets. Excerpt:
The southern metropolis of Shenzhen has closed all live poultry markets until Feb. 13 for a thorough cleaning. The city near Hong Kong has reported 14 human H7N9 cases since Dec. 18.
Live poultry trading has been halted in Hangzhou, Ningbo and Jinhua cities in Zhejiang, which reported the largest number of human H7N9 cases.
China has stepped up research for an H7N9 vaccine in the face of the increasing threat from the virus.
Beijing's Sinovac Biotech Ltd., which developed the A/H1N1 and H5N1 vaccines, said in a press release on Wednesday that it has completed preclinical studies of an H7N9 vaccine and prepared several types for clinical testing.
The company has submitted an application to the China Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials.
Hualan Biological Engineering Inc. said in early January that the H7N9 vaccine developed by its subsidiary, Hualan Biological Bacterin Co., Ltd., had passed an initial examination by the food and drug watchdog in central China's Henan Province.
The vaccine is being handled by the China Food and Drug Administration, but it is still hard to say when and if it will be approved for production, according to the Henan Provincial Food and Drug Administration.
