China's poultry industry has suffered a loss of over RMB 10 billion ( $1.6 billion) due to the new outbreak of bird flu virus (H2N9 virus), which began two weeks ago, reports Reuters, referring to a source in the National Association of Poultry industry.

The authorities were forced to slaughter tens of thousands birds and close a number of poultry factories in Shanghais and Beijing, hoping to reduce the spread of infection. Despite the measures taken, however, there are new cases of infection every day. According to the "Xinhua" agency information, so far 14 people have died and 64 more have been infected. Most cases occurred in eastern China, where consumption of poultry meat has fallen by more than half, according to the local producers.