BEIJING, Nov 7: Beijing’s municipal government has ordered live poultry and pet bird markets to be shut down in an attempt to curb the spread of bird flu, officials said on Monday, a day after China announced three possible human cases.

China’s health minister Gao Qiang also warned the battle against bird flu was ‘complex’ and urged all government departments to promptly report outbreaks to prevent the virus spreading.

“We should fully realize the complexity and long-term nature of the prevention and control situation, and the importance of prevention and control work,” Mr Gao told a nationwide teleconference.

“What’s critical is that we perform well the prevention, control, rescue and treatment.”

The country is on high alert as three of the world’s eight bird migrating routes pass through China. Experts believe migrating birds spread the virus.

In Heishan county, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, six million poultry have been culled so far after the country’s fourth outbreak was reported there on Friday.

The Liaoning government has allocated 10 million dollars of emergency disaster relief funds to compensate farmers and another 10 million to pay for prevention work.

Experts at the scene blame migratory birds for the outbreak after dozens were found dead at a local natural habitat, located on the bird migrating route linked to Australia.

Beijing officials told a news conference the sale of live chickens, ducks and geese in all of the capital’s 168 markets have halted since the bans were ordered on Sunday.

The capital’s popular pet bird markets have also been shut down.

Citizens can still raise pet birds at home. But allowing the pets, including homing pigeons, to fly around freely — a tradition that goes back hundreds of years — has also been banned.

“With the movement of migrating birds there is a greater possibility for the virus to spread to other areas,” Liu Yaqing, deputy director-general of Beijing’s agricultural bureau, told journalists.

“It is very difficult for us to isolate contact between poultry in farmhouses and wild birds, so we face great challenges.”

Some 20 million out of 23.9 million farm-raised poultry in the city have been vaccinated for bird flu, she said. Inspectors will go door to door in urban areas to confiscate family-raised poultry.

So far the city has tested 2,500 people in the ‘at risk’ population, including poultry farmers or butchers.—AFP