The government said it has temporarily suspended the issuance of import permits for poultry meat and other poultry products from Kuwait and the Czech Republic, where a lethal strain of the bird-flu virus has been detected.
In two separate memorandum orders published over the weekend, the Department of Agriculture (DA) ordered the temporary ban on the importation of poultry meat and poultry products—including day-old chicks and semen—from Kuwait and the Czech Republic.
The DA made the decision after the two countries reported outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in some of their poultry farms to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) last month.
“These is a need to prevent the entry of HPAI virus to protect the health of the local poultry population,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in Memorandum Orders 5 and 6.
Kuwait Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources-Animal Health Department (PAAAFR-AHD) reported to the OIE on January 23 that there was an outbreak of H5N8 HPAI in Sulaibiyah, Al Jahrah, Kuwait, affecting a backyard holding for ducks, geese and pheasants. The report was confirmed by both Kuwait’s Central Veterinary and Research Laboratory and OIE’s Reference Laboratory in the United Kingdom.
This is the first time that the H5N8 HPAI virus strain was detected and recorded in Kuwait, according to the notification report of PAAAFR-AHD to the OIE. PAAAFR-AHD added the outbreak has resulted in the deaths of 144 birds.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic reported to the OIE the outbreak of the same avian influenza virus strain in Jihomoravsky, Stredocesky, and Jihocesky, which affected laying hens, geese, ducks, guinea fowls, turkey, ostriches and pigeons in backyard farms. This report was confirmed by the National Veterinary Laboratory in Prague.
With the ban in place, the Philippine government has suspended the processing, evaluation of the application, and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance of domestic and wild birds and poultry products from Kuwait and the Czech Republic.
The DA warned that it will confiscate all shipments of the banned commodities originating from the two above-mentioned countries. The ban does not cover heat-treated products.
“Frozen poultry meat with slaughter/process date of 21 days prior to the HPAI outbreaks are allowed to enter the country subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations,” Piñol said.
The Philippines does not consider Kuwait and the Czech Republic as major sources of imported poultry meat.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged all countries to intensify their measures against the spread of HPAI virus, as nearly 40 countries have reported outbreaks in their respective poultry sectors.
“The rapidly expanding geographical distribution of these outbreaks and the number of virus strains currently cocirculating have put WHO on high alert. For example, the H5N6 virus causing severe outbreaks in Asia is a new strain created by gene-swapping among four different viruses,” WHO Director General Margaret Chan said during the 140th Session of the WHO Executive Board last month.
“The latest epidemic, which began in late-September 2016, started earlier than usual, and since December has shown a sudden and steep increase in cases. In the most recent two clusters, the WHO could not rule out limited human-to-human transmission, though no sustained transmission has been detected to date,” Chan added.
She called on governments to follow the International Health Regulations and to report human cases promptly.
Earlier, Meat Importers and Traders Association President Jesus C. Cham told the BusinessMirror the price of mechanically deboned meat in the international market rose by at least 40 percent due to tightness in supply caused by the bird-flu outbreak in some European countries.
Last month the government imposed a temporary ban on the importation of poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from some areas in England, France, Poland and the Netherlands due to the outbreaks of the H5N8 HPAI virus.
Currently the Philippines is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia that remains free from the dreaded avian influenza virus. The virus, which resurfaced in Asia in 2003, crippled poultry industries in neighboring countries, such as Vietnam.
Source: Businessmirror.com.ph
