February 10, 2004

Philippines Suspends Chicken Imports From US

The Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) announced a ban on chicken imports from Delaware after bird flu is reported to have step foot into the United States.

"Although the virus strain is reported to be different from H5N1 that affected poultry stocks in Asia, we are taking all precautionary measures to prevent its entry to the Philippines," a source at the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said.

The US is the Philippines' main source of imported chicken, official figures show.

The temporary ban also includes prohibiting imports of domestic and wild birds and their products, including day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Delaware.

The BAI also suspended the processing, evaluation and issuance of veterinary quarantine clearance and international veterinary certificate import permit for applications required for the importation of the stated commodities.

Should shipments from Delaware come in, the DA quarantine inspectors and officers at all major sea and airports are authorized to stop and confiscate these commodities.

The USDA said last Saturday that at least 12,000 chickens from a Delaware poultry farm were culled after the flock was tested positive for a strain of the H7 virus, a lesser strain that is fatal to poultry but is not transferable to humans.

The Philippines already banned the imports of all chicken and chicken meat products since last year, including live birds from Pennsylvania, after the state confirmed that several poultry farms were contaminated with Newcastle disease.

The USDA described Newcastle disease as a contagious and fatal viral disease affecting all species of birds.

It is probably one of the most infectious diseases of poultry and is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs.

A death rate of almost 100 percent can occur in unvaccinated poultry flocks. An infected bird may exhibit respiratory difficulty, sneezing, gasping for air, nasal discharge, coughing, watery diarrhea, nervous depression, muscular tremors, drooping wings, twisting of head and neck, circling, complete paralysis, drop in egg production, production of thin-shelled eggs, swelling of tissues around eyes and neck and sudden death.

It is transmitted through discharge or droppings, and secretions from the nose, mouth and eyes. The virus-bearing material can be picked up on shoes and clothing and is carried from an inflected flock to a healthy one.