February 22, 2007

Philippine airport to enforce ban on UK poultry products NAIA

Authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the Philippines are keeping a tight watch on flights from the United Kingdom to ensure that no live birds, live poultry, and poultry products from that country will enter the Philippine territory.

Veterinary Quarantine Services (VQS) officer-in-charge Dr Simeon Amorao Jr told the Philippine Star daily that veterinary inspectors have been alerted after the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued an importation ban on British poultry and its by-products on February 20.

The ban was issued after the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or the Animal Health Organization has confirmed the presence of a highly pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus in the UK, where the outbreak was first reported on a turkey farm in Holton, Suffolk.

Amorao said the VQS have stopped issuing import permits from poultry products coming from England and all poultry products from the UK will be confiscated and properly disposed of in order to keep the Philippines bird flu-free.

He explained that traditionally, the country does not import live poultry or poultry products from the UK but NAIA is nevertheless on alert.

Amorao said the DA has banned the importation of livestock and poultry products from over 40 countries worldwide since the bird flu of avian influenza virus was discovered.

At present, the Philippines is among the only three bird flu-free countries in Southeast Asia, along with Brunei and Singapore.

The World Health Organization reported that 272 people have been infected with the virus and some 166 people have died since the virus resurfaced in South Korea in 2003.