A fresh outbreak of coronavirus cases in Beijing is being blamed on imported salmon, prompting a nationwide boycott of the fish.

Salmon has been taken off the shelves in major supermarkets like Walmart Inc. and deleted from grocery delivery platforms across China, while top experts are warning people not to consume the omega-3 rich fish. Provinces and cities from Yunnan to Shanghai are testing the seafood at local wet markets for the virus.

The backlash came after the chairman of a major fruit and vegetable market called Xinfadi, the site of over 100 newly-detected infections in Beijing, said that the virus was traced to the chopping board used by a seller of imported salmon.

Salmon Surge

China's demand for imported salmon was climbing before the coronavirus

Source: GACC

“We have yet to find out whether human beings transmitted the virus to salmon, or salmon contracted the virus first,” said Zeng Guang, a senior expert with the National Health Commission, in an interview with state media on Sunday. He warned Beijing residents not to eat raw salmon or purchase imported seafood for the time being.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Diseases Prevention and Control said on Sunday that the virus can survive on the surface of frozen food for up to three months and that the agency “highly suspects” contaminated goods as the source of the latest outbreak.

In a study published in April, researchers with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concluded that the coronavirus is not known to infect aquatic food animals or contaminate their products.

Local authorities across China are heightening their scrutiny of wet markets and the seafood sold there. In provinces like Yunnan, Hubei and Shandong, fresh seafood and equipment like chopping boards and knives are being tested for the virus. Wet market workers are also being screened.

Shandong, Anhui, Liaoning and other provinces have issued policies to strictly supervise and administer the inspection and quarantine of imported aquatic products. The customs shall carry out risk monitoring on imported commodities, especially on key imported commodities and their internal and external packaging from high-risk countries and regions, and the strict access management of imported aquatic products shall be carried out. Moreover, the imported aquatic products shall come from countries and enterprises approved by the GACC and shall be accompanied by a health certificate issued by the export country.