February 4, 2004

 

 

Myanmar Chicken Banned On Bird Flu Fears

 

Two Indian states banned poultry imports from Myanmar on Tuesday in an attempt to prevent the spread of bird flu, officials said.

 

Manipur and Mizoram states announced bans on poultry from neighboring Myanmar - despite official assurances that the virus hasn't reached the Southeast Asian nation - fearing the illegal import of chickens from infected countries via Myanmar.

 

An outbreak of the avian virus has killed at least three people in Thailand and nine in Vietnam. It has resulted in the death or slaughter of millions of birds in nine Asian nations and Taiwan.

 

"We have ordered a ban on poultry imports from Myanmar to check the possibility of entry of poultry or poultry products originating from Thailand," said Thangso Baite, Manipur's veterinary minister.

 

Veterinarians will join police and border guards to help stop poultry from crossing the border from Myanmar, Baite said.

 

Meanwhile, Mizoram banned all livestock imports, as well as poultry, from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

 

Bangladeshi authorities insist the country is bird flu-free, despite the unexplained death of thousands of chickens there last week.

 

There is no evidence that the avian virus has spread to other animals.

 

"We don't want to take any chances," Dr. Sangnghina, Mizoram's director of animal husbandry, said of the livestock blockade. He uses only one name.

 

The state bans issued Tuesday are in addition to those already announced by India's national government, which prohibit poultry imports from South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and Japan, where the disease has been detected.

 

China, Taiwan, Laos and Indonesia have also reported cases of bird flu. But their products haven't been banned because India doesn't import poultry products from them, officials said.