February 10, 2004

Canada To Continue Chicken Imports From US

The Canadian government has not announced a ban on poultry imports from the United States yet, but they will be keeping an eye on the situation in Delaware.

Gilles Dulac, senior staff veterinarian at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said they are closely monitoring the situation in Delaware where two chickens tested positive for the virulent H7 virus, which is different from the H5N1 virus in Asia.

The H7 strain is fatal to poultry but does not appear to transmit to humans.

"We're keeping an eye on this. It's a serious thing for us and we're not taking it lightly, but on the other hand we don't want to overreact, either," Dulac said yesterday.

U.S. authorities destroyed 12,000 birds over the weekend after the virus was found in two chickens on a non-commercial grower's farm in southern Kent County, Delaware last Friday. Japan and South Korea have banned imports of U.S. chicken.

Russia, America's top poultry buyer, said it would suspend poultry products only from Delaware.

Five poultry farms within a 3.2-kilometre radius of the infected farm have been tested and showed no sign of the disease.

"At the moment, it would be premature to act and stop all trade (of chicken) with the United States," Dulac said.