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Muscat - After imposing a ban on import of poultry and poultry products from five European nations and three Indian states in December last year, Oman has extended the ban on other countries like Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Finland and Japan.
The December decision banned the import of live birds and their products and derivatives from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the states of Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka in India.
The ban comes after reports of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus outbreak in many European countries since November 2016. While in Japan the outbreak started in November 2016. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on Monday said that it has issued a ministerial decision to ban import of poultry and its products from these countries till it is clear that the flu is contained. 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.
On October 28, Hungary reported the detection of HPAI H5N8 virus in one wild bird (mute swan) that had been found dead at Lake Fehér-to in Csongrád County. Since then the HPAI H5N8 virus was detected in wild birds in Poland, Croatia, Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and Slovenia as well as in Switzerland and Serbia.
The majority of infected wild birds are migratory duck species (like tufted duck) as well as swans, sea gulls and birds of prey found dead at sea shores and lakes. On November 4, 2016 Hungary reported the first outbreak of HPAI H5N8 in poultry. Since then outbreaks have mainly affected duck and geese farms situated in an area with a high density of holdings. HPAI H5N8 outbreaks in poultry have since been reported from Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
© Muscat Daily 2017
