April 9, 2007

More countries halt poultry imports from US state of West Virginia

Cuba, Japan, Russia and Taiwan have declared poultry from the southern US state of West Virginia temporarily ineligible for importation following the discovery of bird flu at a turkey farm.

The countries will not accept any poultry or poultry products from the state. Also, Hong Kong will not accept such imports from Pendleton County, where the bird flu was found, said Matt Herrick, a spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service.

"They are temporary measures based on international guidelines," Herrick said Thursday.

Timeframes for resuming poultry imports will depend on each country's standards. For example, Cuba allows such imports to resume 21 days after the disease is detected, providing the poultry farm is sterilised to its standards, Herrick said.

"The remaining countries ... it's a case-by-case basis," he said.

State agriculture officials said the strain of the disease found in Pendleton County turkeys is not harmful to humans. But 25,000 turkeys at the farm were destroyed this week as a precaution to prevent the virus from mutating and spreading.