Bans on Canadian Poultry Mount

OTTAWA - Feb 20/04 - SNS -- Temporary bans on imports of Canadian poultry started to mount within the first 24 hours after the announcement the H7 strain of avian influenza was found on a poultry farm in the province of British Columbia.

Japan was one of the first countries to ban Canadian poultry imports. The impact is modest because Canada only ships about 67 metric tons (MT) a year to that country.

Singapore also banned all poultry imports from Canada. As with Japan, the ban will have a greater psychological impact on Canadian poultry producers than a practical impact because it only buys around 180 MT of Canadian chicken meat a year.

Hong Kong also immediately banned imports of Canadian poultry, but limited its ban to products originating in British Columbia.

The last time Canada reported an outbreak of the H7 strain of avian influenza it suffered a 5% decline in total poultry and product exports.

The strain of avian influenza found in Canada is not the same as that found in Asia, which is facing continued outbreaks of the H5N1 strain, which can spread to humans. However, health officials were delivered another scare this week with the confirmation the H5N1 strain had also spread from birds to cats. Veterinarians confirmed two domestic cats died of the disease Friday in Thailand.

In other news about the disease, China reported two new discoveries of infected farms, one around Huayin city in Shaanxi and a second around Anning city in Yunnan.