The Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said in a statement yesterday that it has ordered the suspension of imports of poultry meat and poultry meat products from certain areas in Canada and Poland due to the recent outbreaks of the highly pathogenic Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 there.
The bureau just announced suspending approval of importing those from H5N1 affected areas in the United States on Monday.
According to the statement, the H5N1 bird flu has been reported in Drummond Regional County Municipality in Quebec Province, Essex County in Ontario Province in Canada, and Konin County in Greater Poland Voivodeship.
Therefore, the bureau will not approve import applications for poultry meat and poultry meat products from the affected areas, and the bureau will continue to strictly control fresh food sold in Macau.
According to the bureau, all fresh food products must be declared and pass mandatory inspection and quarantine before they are imported, adding that the bureau will examine the health certificate issued by the country of origin to prove that the products come from non-infected areas and are fit for human consumption before the bureau vets the import application documents.
The statement said the bureau has notified Macau’s importers of the incidents, and will continue to monitor the applications for importation of products of animal origin from various districts and take corresponding preventive and control measures in accordance with the announcement of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Image courtesy of the US Department of Health and Human Services
