Citing coronavirus concerns, Diversified Communications of Portland has announced the indefinite postponement of a second major seafood industry exposition it had been scheduled to host this spring.

The publisher and trade show organizer said Tuesday it will postpone its Seafood Expo Global, which had been set to take place in Belgium at the Brussels Expo from April 21 to 23. Last week, Diversified announced the indefinite postponement of its annual Seafood Expo North America, which was scheduled to happen next week in Boston.

“Diversified Communications has made the very difficult decision that, due to the magnitude of the unanticipated public health and safety issues posed by the rapidly escalating COVID-19 outbreaks and contagion, we have no choice but to postpone the upcoming edition of Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global,” Diversified said in a statement. “The Belgium government has affirmed the risk the outbreak poses with its issuance today of advice to cancel indoor events with more than 1,000 people to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.”

As of early Tuesday afternoon, there were 267 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Belgium, Diversified said. The company said it plans to reschedule the events and will keep registered attendees and the public posted, with an update no later than March 18.

This year was set to be the final year that Seafood Expo Global would be held in Brussels. The show organizers announced in September that the event would be moving to Barcelona, Spain, in 2021.

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