September 4, 2006

 

Australia frets over bacteria from imported poultry

 

 

An Australian proposal to relax the ban on imported chicken has come under fire from its medical experts fearing that such imports may introduce antibiotic-resistant bacteria rarely seen in the country.

 

A draft report, commissioned by the Federal Government, has raised the possibility of uncooked chicken meat being imported for the first time.

 

Infectious-disease specialists say the report has failed to give enough attention to the risk that imported chicken could be contaminated with bacteria resistant to "last-resort" antibiotics.

 

Australia is under pressure from the United States, China, Thailand and Brazil to open its poultry markets. Their demands, backed by international trade requirements, prompted the Federal Government to commission Biosecurity Australia to conduct an inquiry.

 

Its draft report has raised the possibility of countries or zones being allowed to export fresh chicken to Australia once they are declared free of virulent poultry diseases.

 

Experts have warned that chickens from those countries have higher levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 

 

In turn, Biosecurity Australia tried to assuage their fears by saying that  requirements for prolonged high-temperature cooking of any chicken imported from countries where the highly infectious poultry diseases were prevalent would remain in place, even those from New Zealand. 

 

Still, criticism that chicken health is being put before human health has prompted the Health Department to revise its stance.

 

The Health Department asserted that it had been asked by Biosecurity Australia for a response on risks from a range of pathogens but not on the issue of antibiotic resistance.

 

It would now submit a risk assessment report specifically addressing the resistance issue.

 

Peter Collignon, a professor of infectious diseases with the University of Sydney and the Australian National University, said it was possible that countries could in future eradicate or reduce the incidences of poultry disease, opening the way to imports of fresh chicken.