January 28, 2004

Kuwait, Jordan Ban Asian Poultry Imports Over Bird Flu

Kuwait and Jordan Tuesday banned the import of poultry from Asian countries infected with bird flu.

The Kuwait News Agency quoted Khaled al-Zahmoul, the deputy president of a government committee on food safety as saying the "temporary" ban by Kuwait included fresh and frozen poultry meat and eggs. The committee was considering a ban on live birds from these countries, he said.

In Jordan, an announcement said the kingdom suspended the import of poultry and all related products from countries infected by bird flu disease, except the thermal treated products.

The official Petra news agency said the ministry of agriculture won't provide any poultry import license from those countries unless the International Epidemic Office declares the country in question is free from the disease.

It said the ministry is carrying out, as a precaution, epidemic tests all over Jordan to uncover the diseases which could affect the livestock, including the bird flu. It also urged the farmers to follow the necessary hygiene measures and regulations.

Ten Asian governments have so far reported some strain of bird flu - Indonesia, Cambodia, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Pakistan.

Some countries claim their version of bird flu is milder than the one that has jumped to humans. Up to 13 people have died from the disease.

The bird flu is a form of influenza believed to strike all birds, though domestic poultry are believed especially prone to it. It also has jumped to humans, though no human-to-human transmission has been reported.

The World Health Organization says the virus has mutated since an outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997, when six people were killed in the first documented case of the virus jumping to humans, and the deadliest episode until this year's outbreak.