BEIJING - A preliminary analysis has indicated that the H7N9 bird flu has not triggered an epidemic among poultry, according to a Tuesday report in the People's Daily that cited a veterinary expert.

Of the 738 samples collected from three live poultry markets in Shanghai, where the first known human deaths of the disease were reported, 20 strains of the H7N9 virus were detected, including 10 from chickens, three from pigeons and seven from environmental samples, the report said.

The government's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen was quoted as saying that it was the first time that the Ministry of Agriculture has detected the virus in domestic animals.

A relationship between the virus detected in the poultry and the virus that has infected humans has yet to be determined, Yu said.

The possibility of infections among animals in other regions has not been ruled out and the ministry has called for epidemic monitoring for animals across the nation, the report said.