By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - China should close live poultry markets in big cities to disrupt the spread of a new strain of bird flu that resurfaced there earlier this month, scientists said, after a previous shutdown was found to have slashed the number of human cases. In a study published in The Lancet medical journal on Thursday, researchers from Hong Kong and China said that while closing markets during the height of the first outbreak of H7N9 in April may have been costly, it reduced human infections dramatically and should be done again if cases rise as feared. The findings - of a more than 97 percent reduction in the daily number of human cases of the new H7N9 strain after the markets were closed compared with before - should give policymakers confidence that the economic costs of shutting markets is balanced by significant health gains. "(This) is a highly effective intervention to prevent human disease and protect public health," said Benjamin Cowling of Hong Kong University, who led the study and had it published in the Lancet medical journal.
via Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/market-closures-dramatically-cut-cases-china-bird-flu-082507246.html
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