China bans SA poultry
2005-11-02 08:06
Special Report
Hong Kong is on bird flu alert again after a wild bird found in a busy shopping area tested positive for the H5 strain of the avian flu virus.
Shanghai - China has banned imports of poultry products from 14 countries including South Africa and Japan until further notice in a bid to protect itself from the bird flu threat, state media reported on Wednesday.
The import ban, announced by the ministries of commerce and agriculture and other agencies, took effect on Tuesday and will stay in force until the government explicitly announces it has been lifted, the Beijing News said.
Exports hit by the ban are from the countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan, North Korea, Romania, Croatia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Mongolia, Turkey, Russia and Sweden.
China reported three outbreaks of avian flu in birds last week, in the northern region of Inner Mongolia and in the provinces of Anhui and Hunan.
A 12-year-old girl died after eating chicken carrying the virus but officials have denied she was infected with it.
The agriculture ministry has said that no human cases of bird flu - which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003 - have so far been documented anywhere in China.
Meanwhile, state media reported that China was stepping up cooperation with the United States to counter the disease, which experts fear could mutate into a human flu that could kill millions, reports AP.
The two governments agreed on Tuesday to step up technological cooperation and information exchanges, while also seeking better coordination and understanding of international standards to facilitate trade in poultry products, the newspaper China Daily reported.
The agreement was reached at a seminar held by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the US department of agriculture, it said.
US embassy officials in Beijing were not immediately available to comment on the report.
- AFP