The Philippines is temporarily banning imports of domestic and wild birds from the United Kingdom and Japan’s Kagawa prefecture after a town in the former and a city in the latter confirmed a bird flu outbreak.
In separate orders for the ban, the Department of Agriculture (DA) cited a report from health and veterinary agencies from London and Tokyo to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) that Frodsham town in England and Mitoyo City in Kagawa recorded cases of the H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). It can be deadly for birds, especially poultry.
“There is a need to prevent the entry of HPAI to protect the health of local poultry populations,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in Memorandum Orders 62 and 63 dated November 18.
With the ban, the DA also suspended processing and evaluating applications for and issuing sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import clearances for these birds. These also include their meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen.
But all incoming poultry shipments from the UK with SPS import clearances issued on or before November 9 would be allowed to enter, as long as the frozen poultry meat was slaughtered or processed 21 days before the start of the outbreak in Frodsham’s poultry farms on October 3.
“All shipments will be subject to veterinary rules and regulations,” the DA said.
No other information was provided in the order banning Japanese bird imports.
Earlier, the DA temporarily banned imports of poultry meat from several European countries due to the bird flu and products that are possibly contaminated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
The virus causing H5N8 occurs among wild aquatic birds and can infect poultry and other bird and animal species. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said avian flu viruses do not normally infect people, although transmissions between birds and humans have been recorded.