(XINHUA)

Chickens up for sale in a market in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on January 23.

To limit spreading of the H7N9 bird flu, Hangzhou called a halt to live poultry trading in urban areas on January 24, after 44 human cases of the virus had been reported in Zhejiang this year. Nationwide, there had been 79 human cases as of the imposed halt.

Many live poultry markets in the cities of Jinhua, Ningbo and Shaoxing in Zhejiang were also closed to prevent human beings from coming into contact with infected live poultry.