Objective By monitoring the positive level of avian influenza virus in the external environment of poultry markets in Huizhou City,the risk of human infection with avian influenza was assessed. Methods 62 poultry markets in 6 counties (districts) of the city were selected by simple random sampling method.1161 samples from poultry cage surface, poultry manure, poultry drinking water, poultry slaughtering tools or meat board surface, and poultry cleaning sewage were collected.Real-time fluorescence quantitative (RT-PCR) method was used to detect the nucleic acid of avian influenza virus in collected samples.In 2018, a self-designed questionnaire was used to conduct a market environmental hygiene survey on the sampled poultry market. Results A total of 1161 environmental specimens from poultry markets were detected, of which 257 were positive, with a total positive rate of 22.14%.The positive rates of avian influenza virus nucleic acid in 2017 and 2018 were 20.17% and 27.03%, respectively, which was statistically significant (χ²=6.480,P＜0.05).The positive rates of H5, H7N9 and H9 subtypes were 4.57%, 3.62% and 18.00% respectively.The positive rate of avian influenza virus in poultry markets in Huicheng District and Boluo County was higher.Among the samples of different types, the highest positive rate was the surface wiping specimens of the slaughter tools (knives, inner wall of depilators, cutting boards, etc.) and the boards for poultry meat (31.20%).Of the 62 markets surveyed in 2018, 34 had positive samples, the positive rate was 54.84%, 35.48% had good market hygiene, 51.61% had disinfection every day; 26.47% had poor market hygiene in 34 positive markets, while only 7.14% had poor market hygiene in negative markets, the difference was statistically significant(χ²=3.93,P＜0.05). Conclusion The positive rate of avian influenza virus nucleic acid in poultry markets of Huizhou City is relatively high.The prevention and control measures of " Wash and disinfect each day, Clean up once a week, Closing once a month " should be strictly implemented in the poultry markets, and the personal protection should be strengthened to reduce the risk of human infection with avian influenza virus.