September 22, 2004

Myanmar Bans Malaysian Poultry Imports

Myanmar has imposed a temporary ban on poultry imports from Malaysia. The move follows the discovery of the bird flu virus there last month, a livestock official said Tuesday.

According to Than Tun, director of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, poultry imports from India, Germany and France are still allowed, but an earlier ban on bird imports from Thailand and Indonesia stands.

A ban on poultry imports from Malaysia was imposed "as soon as we heard the news that bird flu was discovered there," he said.

Authorities in Malaysia discovered bird flu in fighting cocks smuggled from Thailand on August 17. The disease has devastated the poultry industry in several Asian countries, leaving tens of million of chickens dead or slaughtered. Myanmar's poultry stock was unaffected.

Than Tun said livestock breeding companies are importing hatching eggs only from Germany.

"We will continue to monitor the birds at poultry farms and have alerted farmers to report to us if there is unusual disease or increase in mortality among the chickens," he said.