November 1, 2005

Latin American countries react to bird flu with trade bans

Severe measures to stop avian influenza are finding new ground among countries in Latin America.

Five countries recently banned the import of poultry from Columbia, sparking a trade war which led to Columbia banning other agricultural imports from neighbouring countries.

Earlier in October, when Colombia reported a case of chickens infected with a low-pathogenic strain of avian influenza, which differs from the highly pathogenic H5N1 viral strain that has devastated the poultry industry in Asia. Neighbouring countries Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela immediately clamped down on Columbia's chicken exports.

Colombia had insisted that USDA-led tests, supervised by Pan-American health officials have proven that the virus was not the H5N1 strain.

An avian influenza expert and professor in a New York-based university also commented that Colombia's neighbours had over-reacted and that the ban was definitely not justified.