Chicken wings test positive for coronavirus in China

(Gray News) - Frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil to China tested positive for COVID-19, officials from the city of Shenzhen said.

CNN reported the virus was detected on a sample during food screenings.

Health officials tested people who came in contact with the product, and all results were negative. Officials did not say the brand of the chicken product.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website there is no evidence to suggest handling or eating food is associated with widespread transmission of the virus.

“Coronaviruses, like the one that causes COVID-19, are thought to spread mostly person-to-person through respiratory droplets when someone coughs, sneezes, or talks,” the CDC stated in a July 25 report. “It is possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object, including food or food packaging, that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.

"However, this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

The World Health Organization also stated it’s “highly unlikely” people can get the virus from food or food packaging, CNN said.

The Chinese government has increased its screening of imported food products, in response to reports of an outbreak originating in June at a Beijing market.

There have been multiple reports of the virus found on imported food packaging in the country, including shrimp from Ecuador on Wednesday, state news CCTV said.

Brazil has more than 3.1 million confirmed cases of people contracting the virus, second to only the U.S., per Johns Hopkins University.

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