The UAE has banned the import of poultry from Pakistan after bird flu was detected in chicken flocks in the southern port city of Karachi.
Authorities, however, are confident that the UAE remains clear of the deadly bird flu strain that has been found in Thailand.
A top official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries said yesteday: "The ban has been applied on live or frozen poultry from Pakistan and eight other affected countries."
The move was classified as a precautionary measure by the official, who said that since UAE food safety requirements are based on international standards, the country remians very strict in this regard.
"It is a routine procedure taken automatically by the authority in such cases," the official said, explaining the rationale behind the ban on imports.
Fear gripped most Asian conuntries yesterday over the illness's rapid spread after Pakistan announced it had detected a form of the virus among chickens in the southern port city.
According to a Pakistani official in Dubai, the flu has been detected among 10 to 25 per cent of chickens in Karachi.
Six people have so far died from the illness in Vietnam while Thai officials are also trying to determine whether the virus was responsible for the death of a man who bred fighting cocks. A six-year-old Thai boy became the seventh confirmed fatality yesterday.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries yesterday also banned the import of live birds from East Asian countries.
This was announced in a statement by Saeed Al Raqabani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, who said that no birds or eggs should be brought in from Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand and Taiwan in a bid to prevent the virus strain from spreading.
Despite its similarities to the influenza virus in humans, bird flu very rarely jumps species to infect people. It usually only causes infections in the avian species, where it can range from a mild disease that has only minor effects to a version that is fatal.
However, the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease that can infect humans, has been found in bird populations in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia since it first emerged in Vietnam at the end of last year.
The ban is being enforced in UAE by the animal wealth department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, who send circulars to the General Municipalities Secretariat. The latter has already issued letters to local government officials spelling out the ban details.
Najeep Abassi from the commercial section of the Pakistani Consulate in Dubai allayed fears of residents, saying such import of poultry being hardly regular, "there is no need for people to panic." "Some people might have brought poultry from Pakistan for individual use, but it is no more widespread than that," he said.
What is bird flu?* Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease, first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide.
* All birds are thought to be susceptible to the avian influenza, though some species, such as wild ducks, are more resistant than others. Domestic poultry, such as chickens or turkeys, are particularly susceptible. have humans come down with bird flu?
* Avian influenza does not normally infect species other than birds. But humans came down with the bird flu in Hong Kong in 1997, when the H5N1 strain infecting 18 humans, six of whom died.
* Then, people became infected after coming into close contact with live infected poultry. Genetic studies showed the virus jumped directly from birds to humans, and caused severe illness with high mortality. Why is the H5N1 strain of particular concern?
* The strain mutates rapidly and seems to acquire genes from viruses infecting other animal species.
* Birds that survive infection excrete virus for at least 10 days, orally and in feces, helping spread the virus at live markets and by migratory birds.
Source: World Health Organisation
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