Taiwan has banned imports of all poultry products from Tennessee and poultry from Wisconsin after the two US states reported outbreaks of avian influenza virus.
The ban went into effect on Monday, according to the Council of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Web site.
The ban means that no poultry products, including live birds, can be imported from Tennessee, bureau Deputy Director-General Shih Tai-hua (施泰華) said.
Wisconsin has been listed as having low pathogenic H5 bird flu viruses, but in Tennessee the highly pathogenic H7 strain was diagnosed, Shih said.
However, the ban does not include birds or poultry products exported to Taiwan before Monday, the bureau said.
No new cases of the highly pathogenic H5N6 avian flu have been reported in Taiwan since Feb. 19, proving that the council’s seven-day ban on slaughtering and transporting poultry was effective, the bureau said.
The ban expired at midnight on Feb. 23 after some consideration.
The strict implementation of the policy has effectively stopped the spread of the H5N6 strain, which can be transmitted to humans, the bureau said.
As of Monday, 77 poultry farms nationwide were confirmed as having avian flu infections and 578,879 birds have been culled, including 11 contaminated by the more virulent H5N6 strain, the bureau said.
Four duck farms in Yilan County were the latest to be confirmed as having H5N2.
A total of 27,092 ducks were destroyed, quarantine officials said.
After the poultry ban was lifted, the government ordered that duck carcasses be tested before being sent to market to ensure they are not infected with any strain of avian flu.
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