An environmental sample taken from a live poultry market in south China's Guangdong Province has tested positive for H7N9 bird flu, the provincial health authority announced on Sunday.

The sample was collected from the Nanchao Market in Doumen District of Zhuhai City on Saturday, according to the provincial health and family planning commission.

The Guangdong Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) confirmed the result.

Zhuhai Municipal Health Bureau has urged local agricultural and forestry authorities to strengthen daily management, tests and disinfection of live poultry markets. The local poultry markets have been suspended from business.

Six human cases of H7N9 bird flu have been confirmed in Guangdong Province since August 2013. None is from the capital city of Guangzhou.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2014)