Chicken imported from Brazil tests coronavirus positive in China

Guwahati: A sample of frozen chicken wings imported into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from Brazil has tested positive for coronavirus, the city's administration said in a notice on Thursday.

The local disease control centers tested a surface sample taken from the chicken wings as part of routine screenings carried out on meat and seafood imports. This routine screening has been put into action since June after a new outbreak in Beijing was linked to the city's Xinfadi seafood market.

Shenzhen's health authorities traced and tested everyone who might have come into contact with possibly contaminated food products, and also tested food products stored near the infected consignment. All the results were negative, the notice said.

The Brazilian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request by the media for comment.

The Shenzhen Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters said the public needed to remain careful when it comes to imported meat and seafood and must take precautions in order to reduce infection risks.

On Wednesday, China reported that coronavirus had been found on the packaging of shrimps imported from Ecuador, and several other cities have also reported cases of contaminated seafood.

China has suspended some meat imports since mid-June from various countries, including Brazil, along with the protocols for testing all meat and seafood containers coming into major ports in recent months.

The first cluster of COVID-19 cases was linked to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan city. Preliminary studies suggested the virus originated in animal products on sale at the market.

Experts say that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is capable of infiltrating food or food packaging materials but it cannot reproduce and cannot survive at room temperature for long.

Li Fengqin, who heads a microbiology lab at the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment told reporters in June that contaminated food put in cold storage could be a potential source of transmission.

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