Muscat - After imposing ban on poultry imports from ten European nations as well as Japan and three Indian states in the last couple of months, Oman has extended the ban to Greece, Italy, Uganda, Kuwait and the Indian state of Gujarat.
H E Dr Fuad bin Jaafar bin Mohammed al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, issued a decision on the import ban, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) in a statement. The restriction will continue till it is clear that the flu is contained. In mid January, MoAF imposed a ban on import of poultry products from Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Finland and Japan.
While in December, it banned imports from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka. Widespread Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus outbreak has been reported in many European countries as well as from several Asian countries since November 2016.
Kuwait reported an outbreak of the highly contagious H5N8 bird flu virus in ducks, geese and pheasants in January, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Some 144 birds were found dead in the region of Al Jarah. Uganda too reported first case of bird flu in January in Entebbe, on the banks of Lake Victoria, and another in the Masaka district about 120km west of Kampala. Avian Influenza (AI) or Bird Flu is a highly contagious viral infection which can affect all species of birds and can manifest itself in different ways depending mainly on the ability of the virus to cause disease (pathogenicity) and on the species affected.
Source: Muscatdaily.com
