December 2, 2005

Philippines bans poultry from Canada's British Columbia
 

The Philippines said Friday it has imposed a ban on all poultry products from British Columbia, Canada, due to an outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza.

Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban said the ban was prompted by confirmation from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency of a case of avian flu at a commercial duck farm in British Columbia on Nov 18.

While the virus has been confirmed as the low pathogenic H5 North American strain, there was still a need to impose the ban to protect the health of the local poultry population, Panganiban said.

The ban covered all imports of domestic and wild birds and their products from British Columbia, including day-old chicks, eggs and semen, he added.

From January to early November, the Philippines imported about 10 million tonnes of poultry products from Canada, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry.

The Philippines is one of the few Asian countries that has managed to remain free of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

H5N1 has killed more than 60 people in Asia since late 2003.