February 9, 2007

Philippines to ban poultry products from UK

The Philippines will temporarily ban on the importation of poultry products from the United Kingdom including domestic and wild birds and their products, poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen.   

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, told the Business Mirror daily that it is now drafting a memorandum that will authorise the ban on wild birds and poultry products from the UK. This came after the deadly avian influenza (AI) virus hit a turkey farm in England.

According to BAI officer-in-charge Davinio Catbagan, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has just lifted the temporary ban on the importation of birds and poultry products from the UK in August 2006 after the country was certified by the Office International des Epizooties that it was already free of the bird-flu virus.

Earlier, the DA imposed a similar ban on birds and poultry products coming from Japan following the discovery of the presence of the  highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus serotype H5 in that country.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations earlier noted that the re-occurrence of the bird flu virus in previously infected countries is part of a seasonal pattern.

But FAO noted that the intercontinental spread of the H5N1 virus by wild birds migrating from Asia to Europe and Africa does not seem to be as worrisome as observed this autumn/winter season, which is not at the same level as it had in 2005.

The UN agency, however said, poultry trade and the transport of live birds could still spread the virus.

New cases of avian influenza have recently been detected in China, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Currently, the Philippines, along with Singapore and Brunei, remains free of the dreaded bird-flu virus.