Ban on Indian poultry products remains effective - official

By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
Published: January 04, 2009, 23:35


Dubai: Food safety officials sought to calm the public in the UAE after India reported another outbreak of deadly bird flu, saying the country's ban on Indian poultry imports remains effective.

West Bengal health and veterinary workers began culling 60,000 poultry after confirming a fresh outbreak of H5N1 bird flu near Siliguri town, bordering Bangladesh, on Saturday. No human infections have been reported.

Khalid Mohammad Sharif Al Awadi, head of the food control section at Dubai Municipality, told Gulf News that poultry products in the UAE were safe.

"Any imports of fresh poultry products from Asian countries [including India] have been stopped. The ban has been in place for a long time," he said.

Impact in the past

He added authorities kept abreast with the latest alerts involving bird flu as well as other food-borne diseases.

The UAE has banned the import of poultry products from India since last year.

The ban on the imports initially caused a shortage of eggs on the UAE market.

India first reported bird flu in 2006.

The disease, which is endemic in some parts of Asia, has killed 247 people and sickened 390 people in different countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.

So far, human infections of bird flu have been mostly due to direct contact with sick birds, chickens and ducks. However, health experts fear the virus will mutate, causing a global epidemic.

Bird flu fears peaked in late 2006 and early 2007, prompting many to shun poultry products in the UAE.