Shanghai will ban the sale of pet birds next month as part of its avian-flu prevention efforts, putting an untold number of dealers out of business, authorities said yesterday.

After the cutoff date, which will be announced later, live chickens will be the only birds allowed to be sold in the city, and only at three designated wholesale markets and 461 retail outlets.

Shanghai so far has been disease free, but the city has implemented a wide range of preventive measures to keep bird flu beyond its borders, including a halt to the import of birds from affected areas and increased disinfection at local markets.

For now, the sale of live chickens will continue, though the practice has been prohibited in other cities.

"Unless the situation becomes serious, we won't stop the live-chicken trade," said Zhao Ziqin, director of the Shanghai Livestock Office, adding that neighboring cities, which supply some of Shanghai's chicken stock, appear to be safe.

The pet-bird trade, however, presents greater risk as some of the birds may have come from disease areas, authorities said.

It's also difficult to vaccinate pet birds because of their small size, and their storage conditions are often unsanitary, adding to the risks of a virus outbreak.

Some bird dealers said the ban won't affect them much because sales have decreased drastically since avian flu hit China.

"I'm quitting the business after the birds here are sold," said Zhou Jiade, the largest bird retailer at the Jiang Yin Flower and Bird Market in Huangpu District. "I've already downsized my outlet in this market from three to only half a store."

"My retirement will cause less trouble for the government and for myself as well," said Zhou, who's been in the business for 15 years.

Several other bird sellers also said they planned to shut down soon.

In the meantime, market management has increased the disinfection frequency from a few times a week to twice a day.

Beginning yesterday, the city's three poultry wholesale markets will have a day off every week so they can conduct thorough disinfection, and retail markets will close for cleaning one day every two weeks.

Even with greater cleanliness, industry officials aren't optimistic that chicken sales will return to their former levels any time soon, after dropping off 90 percent.

(Shanghai Daily November 23, 2005)