Liu Minxia, Cao Ying

    mllmx@msn.com

    A NEW ban on live poultry sales was put into place Saturday, right after the previous 10-day ban ended Friday, but live poultry sales are continuing to take place in Shenzhen, while one more H7N9 bird flu infection has been reported in the city this winter.

    It is the second time this winter the city put in place a live poultry ban due to the worsening of the H7N9 bird flu, but no government department has ever declared responsibility for implementing the ban, nor for drawing up plans to compensate sellers who stopped selling live poultry.

    The news about the latest ban for another 10 days was announced by the city’s health commission, but the commission said it is enacted by other departments, possibly the trade and information technology commission or the market supervision commission.

    However, Zheng Xuan, a director with the city’s trade and information technology commission, denied to Shenzhen Daily yesterday that the commission is in charge of anything related to the ban or the compensation plan, although a page on the commission’s website contains a detailed plan the commission had formulated in October to make compensations for the ban to take place in January and February last year.

    Huang Wei, public relations officer of the city’s market supervision commission, told Shenzhen Daily yesterday that he was not sure who is in charge of the matter, as the commission’s departments were rearranged last year.

    Many private sellers are taking advantage of the government’s disorganization and inefficiency to continue to sell live poultry. A seller in a Jingtian wet market in Futian District surnamed Guo said business remains good, as old clients keep coming back to buy live poultry.

    Also some wholesalers complained that the government gave the new ban notice too late, on Friday afternoon, the last day of the previous 10-day ban, and that they had already purchased live poultry to prepare for sales in anticipation for the ban being lifted Saturday.

    Unofficial statistics by the Buji Hongsheng live poultry market show that at least 200,000 live birds were stalled from sales by Saturday. These vendors will inevitably suffer losses if they don’t sell them.

    “Government agencies should release a plan to compensate sellers as soon as possible,” said a wholesaler surnamed Chen.

    Meanwhile, another man surnamed Lai, 21, in Longgang District, was confirmed Friday to have been infected with the H7N9 bird flu. Lai, who worked as a cook, was in critical condition, Shenzhen’s health commission said Friday. He felt unwell Wednesday after working in a place where live poultry was on sale. He was confirmed to have been infected with the H7N9 virus Saturday.

    Shenzhen has reported nine H7N9 cases this winter and two of the patients have been released from the hospital. The number of Shenzhen’s newly confirmed H7N9 cases and the number of all its H7N9 cases since 2013 are the highest in the province, the city’s health commission said.

    Guangdong has reported 28 H7N9 cases and a 52-year-old patient from Dongguan died Jan. 23, 12 days after being confirmed to have been infected with H7N9 bird flu, the provincial health commission said Friday.