Jiao Yang, a spokesperson of Shanghai municipal government, denied reports that the city government faxed a news release to mainland media late on Friday acknowledging that "Shanghai has found and quarantined its first suspected bird flu patient."

Jiao on Saturday described the report that ran in some overseas newspapers on January 31, including the Hong Kong-based Mingpao, as "a rumor". He said the Shanghai municipal government never released such information to the media.

Jiao said no human infection was found in Shanghai. Officials in Shanghai have taken emergency measures to prevent possible spread of the bird flu in the city after a suspected case was reported in Nanhui District on Friday, he added.

The Shanghai municipal government issued a decree Sunday night, banning the wholesaling and retailing of live poultry at local markets.

Officials at the markets are urged to enforce a strict quarantine system to ensure only those poultry products with a quarantine certificate are sold in the city.

The city has slaughtered 300,000 birds in a three kilometer radius of the suspected case and sanitized the area.

The district government has also blocked all major intersections in the involved area to ensure that no poultry is transported out.

(China Daily February 2, 2004)