Bad news for those looking for chicken to chow on at this week's Dragon Boat Festival.

Supplies could run low after Hong Kong suspended the sale of live chickens due to bird flu concerns. Samples of live chicken droppings tested positive for the H7N9 strain.

According to Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the dropping samples were taken from a Yan Oi market stall in Tuen Mun on May 16.

An interdepartment meeting, helmed by Dr. Ko Wing-man, Hong Kong's secretary for Food and Health, hopes to trace whether the infected poultry was supplied by mainland or local farms.

The meeting will also determine the duration of the live chicken trade suspension and if the sale at the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market will also be suspended.

This suggests that there may not be fresh chicken available for the Dragon Boat Festival.

"We know that, at present, the supply of live poultry from the mainland is at a very low level. However, we still cannot make a 100 percent conclusion on the source of H7N9 virus in that particular specimen [tested]," said Ko.

Tsui Ming-tuen, chairman of the Hong Kong Poultry Wholesalers' Association, confirmed that no live poultry from the mainland had been imported to Hong Kong prior to the suspension.

Since the H7N9-positive specimen was found at a wet market, suspending the supply of chicken for 21 days would not be necessary, added Tsui.

The official added that Hong Kong can follow Macau's example of conducting a three-day cleaning of the wet markets before reopening the sale of live chickens.

Local farms supply approximately 11,000 fresh poultry for trade every day. According to wholesaler Regal Cheng Chin-keung, a 21-day suspension could lead to an accumulation of 200,000 to 300,000 live poultry in farms.

"Based on the information gathered, we hope to make a risk assessment — whether we need to cull all chickens in the markets, and to see how long we have to suspend supply," added Ko.

The dreaded H7N9 is one of the more advanced bird flu strains, which can affect both poultry and humans. It can cause not just respiratory problems but also organ failure and even death in people infected.

The last time Hong Kong suspended importation of live poultry from the mainland was in December 2014. The previous suspension was also due to H7N9 concerns.

Photo: Paul Phung | Flickr