UTV | COLOMBO – Frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil tested positive for the novel coronavirus in China, authorities announced on Thursday.
COVID-19 was detected on a surface sample taken from a batch of chicken wings during screening of imported frozen food in Shenzhen’s Longgang district, the municipal government said in a statement obtained by CNN.
Health authorities in Shenzhen were able to trace and test the people who might have come in contact with the shipment from the unidentified brand.
The results came back negative and any related products in stock have reportedly been sealed off and tested negative.
The statement said officials are now working to trace related products from the same brand that may have already been sold.
Brazil is second behind the U.S. for the most confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 3,164,785 cases reported to the database kept by Johns Hopkins University.
There have reportedly been seven instances of coronavirus being detected on packaging of imported seafood products across China, according to CNN, which cited state media outlets.
The contaminated chicken wings made news just one day after coronavirus was found on packaging of shrimp imported from Ecuador at a restaurant in China’s eastern Anhui province during a routine inspection, CNN noted.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said people are “highly unlikely” to contract the virus from food or food packaging.
“There is no evidence to date of viruses that cause respiratory illnesses being transmitted via food or food packaging. Coronaviruses cannot multiply in food; they need an animal or human host to multiply,” the WHO previously said.
CNN noted that while it is possible to catch the virus by touching surfaces or objects like food packaging and then touching your mouth or nose, it is not the main method of coronavirus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.