November 30, 2005

India bans poultry imports on bird flu concerns
 

India has banned poultry and wild bird imports for six months, in a bid to protect its domestic poultry industry from bird flu, the government said.

Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Namo Narayan Meena, said the decision was made although no cases of bird flu have been found in India so far.

1,800 bird samples have already been tested at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state. All have tested negative for bird flu, he added.

With the arrival of winter, a large number of migratory birds fly to India from Mongolia, China, and Russia, where bird flu has already been found.