Bird flu: EU bans U.S. poultry
 |
The ban applies only to imports of live chicks and eggs.
Story Tools
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- The European Union is banning imports of U.S. poultry for one month after bird flu was discovered in the state of Texas.
The EU said the ban, which is being adopted Tuesday, would apply to all live bird and egg imports from the United States and follows a similar ban on imports of Thai poultry.
U.S. health officials said they were monitoring farmworkers in Texas after the chickens were diagnosed with a highly infectious and fatal form of the avian disease.
However, the strain is said to pose little risk to humans -- in contrast to the disease blamed for the deaths of at least 22 people in Asia and prompted the slaughter of tens of millions of fowl.
"We want to make sure there's no risk posed by the imports," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne told a news conference, adding that the ban would remain in place until March 23.
"It's important we adopt an approach which is consistent with the protection of animal health...(and) only take such measures which are proportionate to the risk this issue presents to the EU."
The U.S. is a major poultry exporter to the EU. A quarter of annual EU egg imports are from the U.S., about 13,000 tonnes of eggs worth 20 million euros ($25.17 million) in trade.
Byrne said half the egg imports were consumed while the rest were hatching eggs. The EU also imports 800,000 day-old chicks a year from the U.S., mostly turkeys, accounting for 50 percent of the 15-nation bloc's imports. The trade was worth 2.5 million euros ($3.15 million) a year.
He told reporters he was informed Monday evening about the outbreak, which he said "required an immediate response from the European Union."
Byrne said EU farm ministers would decide whether to renew the ban following an incubation period of four weeks on March 23. He said he planned to discuss the situation with U.S. officials when he visited Washington on March 18.
The Asian outbreak has alarmed scientists, who say it shows that a deadly strain of bird flu can jump species.
Bangkok officials have confirmed the deaths of two house cats from bird flu, the first domesticated mammals known to have contracted the disease in this outbreak.
