Friday, January 11, 2008
Gov't bans poultry from Saudi Arabia, Poland, Benin due to bird flu (3:26 p.m.)
GOVERNMENT has temporarily banned imports of birds, poultry and poultry products from Saudi Arabia, Poland and Benin following outbreaks of bird flu in those countries, the government said Friday.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said he directed quarantine officers and inspectors at major airports and seaports to confiscate shipments of domestic and wild birds and their products, including day-old chicks, eggs and semen, from the three countries.
The Philippines' 60 billion peso (US$1.47 billion; euro1 billion) poultry industry has not reported any bird flu outbreaks since the H5N1 virus first resurfaced in Asia in 2003, Yap said.
A ban on poultry imports from South Korea and Britain remains in effect due to bird flu outbreaks there.
H5N1 has infected more than 340 people and killed at least 216 since 2003, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization. The virus strain does not easily spread between people, however, and most people who caught the disease were infected through close contact with sick poultry. (AP) |
