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The PHILIPPINES has temporarily banned poultry imports from the Russian Federation after the Russian Federation reported the first global case of human transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 (bird flu).
In a memorandum signed on February 26, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar suspended imports from Russia of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen.
It also suspended the processing, evaluation and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import authorizations for such products from Russia.
Reuters reported on February 20 that Russia’s consumer health regulator Rospotrebnadzor announced the world’s first case of H5N8 transmitted from birds to humans.
According to Anna Popova, director of Rospotrebnadzor, seven workers at a poultry plant in Astrakhan were infected with H5N8 during an outbreak at the plant in December, but added that the outbreak did not spread.
Avian flu can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected, live or dead poultry. Previously reported human transmissions were confirmed for other avian influenza strains, such as H5N1 and H7N9.
On February 26, the World Health Organization said the risk of person-to-person transmission is low based on current available information, as all close contacts of the cases in Russia were monitored and showed no signs of clinical disease.
Jesus C. Cham, president of the Association of Importers and Traders of Meat, said that the ban on imports of Russian poultry will not have an impact on supply.
“It has no effect. But the Department of Agriculture should have banned the affected area and not the entire country. The approaches are inconsistent, ”Cham said in a mobile phone message.
Russia’s chicken imports amounted to 28,000 kilograms as of January 31, which is equivalent to 0.2% of the country’s total chicken imports of 16.94 million kilograms so far, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry. – Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
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