The order affects roughly 80 markets in New York City and in several nearby counties. Gov. Kathy Hochul described it as a “proactive” step to help curb the spread of bird flu.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a weeklong shutdown of all live poultry markets in New York City, Westchester County and on Long Island in an effort to thwart transmission of bird flu.

Live poultry markets in New York City raced to sell off all their chickens and other fowl Friday after seven cases of avian flu were detected and state officials ordered markets in the metropolitan area to close for a week.