Reports: Coronavirus Detected on Frozen Chicken Wings from Brazil
According to multiple reports, health officials in Shenzhen, China said that a batch of frozen chicken wings tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday. The meat was imported from Brazil. The news was posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
While Chinese health officials did not identify the brand of chicken, some reports have learned that the chicken came from an Aurora Alimentos plant in the southern state of Santa Catarina, according to a registration number given in the statement. Chinese health officials are working to trace other food products that may have also been imported from the same company. Besides the one batch that tested positive, other related products tested negative for the virus, but they have been "sealed off."
People who might have had direct contact with the contaminated meat were given comprehensive nucleic acid tests for the virus. All of them tested negative. The statement warns the general public to be cautious when buying imported frozen meat products and aquatic products in the near future.
In a parallel story that broke last month, officials in Anhui, China found coronavirus on the packaging of frozen shrimp imported from Ecuador. Prior to this, China had already halted imports of frozen shrimp from Ecuador.
Even earlier, the novel coronavirus was detected on a cutting board at a Beijing wholesale food market in June. At the time, samples of salmon and other foods at the market tested negative for the virus, prompting the possibility that an infected worker was the source of the contamination.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there is no evidence to suggest that handling food or consuming food is associated with COVID-19.
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