Health authorities maintained yesterday that there is no evidence to suggest that the H7N9 avian flu virus has spread between humans, despite an additional family cluster case reported in China a day earlier.

Taiwan issued a Level-2 travel advisory for five Chinese provinces and two metropolitan areas yesterday after confirming a day earlier the first H7N9 bird flu case reported locally but contracted in China.

Six laboratories around Taiwan have been recruited by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) this week to examine specimens of suspected H7N9 avian flu cases, CDC Director-General Chang Feng-yee said yesterday.

The Council of Agriculture (COA) will completely prohibit slaughtering live fowl in traditional markets all around Taiwan proper starting June 17, the Central Epidemic Command Center for H7N9 influenza announced yesterday.

Photos of 10 dead sparrows on a Chinese pavement which went viral on social media and drew a swift official response show how hard covering up a bird flu outbreak would be in the Internet age.

An H7N9 influenza vaccine could be on the market by July at the earliest if Taiwan were to receive the vaccine strain by the end of May, Adimmune Corporation Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said yesterday.

Taiwan could impose a ban on slaughtering live poultry at traditional markets earlier than planned because of the H7N9 bird flu scare, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.

A new case of bird flu in China's capital, a 4-year-old boy who displayed no symptoms, is adding to the unknowns about the latest outbreak that has caused 61 confirmed cases and 14 deaths.

Amid the H7N9 influenza outbreak in mainland China, the Bureau of National Health Insurance yesterday said there are currently 131 hospitals in Taiwan equipped with isolation wards.

Specimens from a 4-year-old Chinese tourist who developed a fever in the eastern county of Hualien were delivered for testing for H7N9 avian influenza yesterday, according to health officials, but lab results came back negative.