Canadian poultry imports to the United States have been suspended because of the ongoing bird flu outbreak that has already led to the isolation of five farms in Canada.
According to Tom Polansek of Reuters, the US has decided to suspend Canada's poultry imports - mainly live and raw poultry - because of the bird flu outbreak in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The U.S Department of Agriculture's chief veterinary officer John Clifford already confirmed the suspension that comes the same dat Canada identified the flu virus as a "highly pathogenic" H5N2 strain.
"It's a temporary ban," Clifford clarified of the suspension via phone interview with Reuters.
Though bird flu or avian influenza does not really pose a threat to the human health when poultry products are handled and cooked properly, the ban on the Canadian poultry imports to the U.S. was still made as a safety precaution.
South Korea, Taiwan, MexicoHong Kong and Japan also followed in suit in banning the arrival of the Canadian poultry products in their countries, reports Business Insider.
Meanwhile, back in Canada, officials have already quarantined five farms in the a region of the western province of British Columbia, the latest addition being a turkey farm.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is yet to conduct further testing on the turkey meat of the fifth farm, which has the capacity of 60,000 birds.
As opposed to reports that the outbreak is already out of control, CFIA's chief veterinary officer Dr. Harpreet Kochhar insisted that everything is under control, according to Wall Street Journal.
He further explained that all cases of bird flu were pretty inevitable since the first case occurred in densely populated poultry farms.
"[The idea that avian influenza was only traced in five farms is] very much indicative of the possibility of the virus being restricted to a particular area of the province," Kochhar added.
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