Egypt bans poultry imports

2005-10-24 12:23

Cairo - Egypt has banned all live poultry imports and called off this year's wild bird hunting season, in an effort to keep out potentially deadly bird flu.

The cabinet stressed on Tuesday that Egypt would stop "all live birds imports whether from countries with which we have import agreements or not".

Egypt normally imports turkey poults and ducklings from France and Germany.

Last week, Egyptian authorities announced they had quarantined 12 000 one-day-old turkeys imported from Germany after suspecting them of carrying avian flu, but released the fowl after they tested negative.

The cabinet said the environment ministry has "suspended bird hunting this year and is calling on Egyptians to avoid contact with migrating birds, especially on the north coast and in Faiyum (south of Cairo) and other hunting areas".

Extra vigilant

The migration of wild birds takes place in the fall when they fly from eastern and southern Europe over Egypt to seek warmer temperatures further south.

The aviation authority meanwhile has been requested to exert extra vigilance with tourists coming from infected countries.

"When in doubt, we can quarantine people coming from infected countries for a period of six days during which we check them at a nearby hospital. Only if they're clear, are they allowed inside the country," said an airport official, adding that no such case had occurred until now.

Scientists fear that the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since late 2003, could mutate to spread easily among humans, causing a global pandemic that could kill millions.

The country closest to Egypt in which cases of bird flu have been reported is Turkey though it is not yet known if the birds were infected with the H5N1 killer form.

- AFP