August 20, 2004

Taiwan Temporarily Stops Poultry Imports From Malaysia
 

The Council of Agriculture (COA) said Thursday that Taiwan will temporarily stop imports of poultry from Malaysia after bird flu cases were found in the Southeast Asian country.

According to officials of the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ), the Malaysian authorities have notified Singapore's Agri-food and Veterinary Authority that they found the H5N1 strain of avian flu in chickens raised on a poultry farm near the border between Malaysia and Thailand.

Singapore, which imports most of its poultry from Malaysia, has also temporarily suspended imports of poultry and related products from its neighbor.

BAPHIQ officials said that although Taiwan does not import poultry from Malaysia, they warned local people to be on high alert against the contagious disease that can be transmitted from birds to humans.

Noting that Taiwan is not a bird flu-affected area at present, the officials urged the public not to visit poultry farms in avian flu-affected countries as well as not to smuggle poultry into Taiwan.

In January this year, tens of thousands of chickens had to be destroyed in Taiwan after the appearance of the less virulent H5N2 strain of the bird flu virus on several local poultry farms.