PH bans poultry from California

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) temporarily is banning the importation of domesticated and wild birds and their products from California in the US because of a confirmed outbreak of bird flu.

The imposition of a temporary ban is meant to protect the health of the local poultry population from infection, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said.

“We have been closely monitoring advisories from the OIE since we want to proactively protect the integrity of our poultry products as avian flu-free,” he said.

Poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen are covered by the ban.

As such, the processing, evaluation of application, and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Import Clearance for these commodities from California have been suspended.

With the exception of heat-treated products, all shipments of poultry and poultry products from California will be stopped and confiscated in Philippine ports.

In February this year, the DA also temporarily banned the entry of poultry products from Haifa, Israel and Oregon in the US after an outbreak of strains of HPAI virus were reported in these countries.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus serotype H5N8 in a commercial turkey farm in Stanislaus County.

H5 and N7 high pathogenicity avian influenza virus are among the notifiable OIE-listed terrestrial animal diseases.

The outbreak has been duly reported to the Office Internationale Des Epizooties (OIE), an international organization that disseminates information on occurrences of animal diseases to governments.

The domestic poultry sector is among the strongest farm sub-sectors in the country, having remained free from avian influenza that has affected neighboring Asian countries. – Rappler.com