SHANGHAI - Shanghai authorities on Saturday started banning all live poultry from other parts of the country from entering the city after temporarily closing three markets to battle the H7N9 bird flu.

The authorities will launch inspections on roads to prevent live poultry from being transported into the city, said the Shanghai Municipal Agricultural Commission.The latest move came after six H7N9 bird flu cases, including four fatalities, were reported in the city.

Nationwide, as of Friday afternoon, China had confirmed 14 H7N9 cases - six in Shanghai, four in Jiangsu, three in Zhejiang and one in Anhui, in the first known human infections of the lesser-known strain. Zhejiang has also reported two cases of deaths.