Chinese city says chicken imported from Brazil has tested positive for coronavirus

A sample of frozen chicken wings imported into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from Brazil has tested positive for coronavirus, the city government said on Thursday.

This comes close on the heels of China reporting that coronavirus had been found on the packaging of shrimps imported from Ecuador, and several other cities have reported cases of contaminated seafood since June.

A surface sample was taken from a batch of chicken wings and tested by local disease control centres on Wednesday.

Shenzhen's health authorities traced and tested everyone who might have come into contact with potentially contaminated food products, and also tested food products stored near the infected batch. All the results were negative, the government said in a notice.

The Shenzhen Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters said the public needed to remain cautious when it comes to imported meat and seafood, and must take precautions in order to reduce infection risks.

China has been screening all meat and seafood containers coming into major ports since June, when a new outbreak of COVID-19 in the capital Beijing was linked to the city's Xinfadi seafood market.