A survey released Monday by the municipal center for disease
control and prevention (CDC) showed that nearly 70 percent of
Shenzheners believe poultry sold at local markets is safe to eat,
four days after the city confirmed its first human infection of the
deadly bird flu virus.
The citywide survey, conducted by the CDC on Saturday and Sunday
through its computer-aided telephone interviewing system (CATI),
interviewed more than 1,020 people and got 257 valid responses.
A total of 72 percent of the respondents knew the city had
witnessed its first confirmed human bird flu case, but less than 40
percent were worried about the situation.
"So far, 66.5 percent people believe it's safe to consume
poultry as long as it's properly cooked and nearly 82 percent are
satisfied with the government action soon after the bird flu case
was confirmed," said Jiang Lijuan, a spokeswoman for the CDC.
Supermarkets and restaurants such as Jusco, Carrefour and KFC
told reporters that sales of frozen or cooked chicken products have
not been affected.
However, chicken vendors at the Meilin wet market said they had
seen a 20 to 30 percent drop in business during the weekend.
The Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce confirmed
the slaughter of chicken was still allowed at wet markets.
"Only the Anliang Market where the bird flu patient's wife
bought a freshly slaughtered chicken was closed for health
concerns," a spokeswoman for the bureau surnamed Zhang said.
The survey also showed that the public was extremely interested
in knowing more about bird flu. Nearly 80 percent of the 257
respondents said they were very interested in bird flu-related news
covered by the media, while 68 percent had seen material related to
bird flu prevention distributed by the CDC.
However, 46 percent of the interviewees did not know how avian
flu was spread.
(Shenzhen Daily June 20, 2006)