Macao has imposed a partial ban on poultry imports from Panyu district of Guangzhou city in the Chinese mainland, according to an official press release issued Tuesday.

The release issued by the Information Bureau quoted sources from the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau as saying that the poultry imports suspension will be only from an 8.5 km-radius of the pandemic sources in the district.

The ban, which is to last for 21 days from Monday, will not affect Macao's poultry market, as the Panyu district is not the special administrative region's poultry supplier.

The outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed thousands of ducks in Panyu.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2007)