GUANGZHOU, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Samples of goose meat taken from a Guangzhou market in south China's Guangdong Province have tested positive for H7N9 avian influenza.

Two goose meat samples and one sewage water sample from two poultry booths in a wet market in Zengcheng, a satellite city of Guangzhou, tested positive, Guangdong Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) confirmed on Sunday.

"It's serious that the water sample test is positive, because it means all the birds inside coops have the possibility of being infected with H7N9 avian influenza. The longer they stay in the coops, the risk of being infected rises," said Yang Zhicong, deputy chief of the Guangzhou municipal CDCP. 

The city government of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, is tracking the poultry source. The market was shut down on Saturday for three days so disinfection and cleaning can take place.

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...actually, it's serious because it may indicate another route for avian and human infection (inhalation of aerosols generated during the aggressive cleaning of these fetid "wet markets").   

This transmission mechanism may help to explain some of the more mysterious H7N9 cases, where direct contact with poultry was not established.  I wouldn't go near a Chinese wet market on a dare!