South Korea Stops Import Of U.S. Poultry After A Recent Case of The Avian Flu
Officials reported Sunday that South Korea has once again ceased the importation of poultry and poultry meat coming from the United States due to a recent bird flu case. Two months ago, South Korea had resumed the poultry trade with the United States following a previous ban but halted it again this time because of the reported "highly pathogenic" avian flu that affected the United States' poultries.
According to South Korea's agriculture ministry, the ban will not affect the imports of poultry products that had undergone heat treatment.
IPolitics reported Monday that the poultry ban came after the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the discovery of a new type of avian influenza, called H7N8. The bird flu had been detected in one of Indiana's turkey farms.
Following the confirmation of the virus, the United States federal government had alerted other states about the dangers and threats posed by the identified type of bird flu. Subsequently, farm and health officials had placed under a monitoring plan those workers who might have been exposed to the bird flu virus.
Reuters reported that state officials as well as two government agencies - the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had collaborated to reduce or prevent the risk of human infection.
"We are hopeful that as we respond very quickly to this virus that we can get it contained and hopefully not see an extensive outbreak like we did last year," said the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Associate Deputy Administrator T.J. Meyers.
In December 2014, South Korea also suspended the importation of meat and poultry from the United States following the State of Washington's confirmation of two types of avian infection, H5N2 and H5N8, that hit wild birds.
"We know very little about this particular virus because we haven't seen it, but we want to take as many precautions as we can to prevent any human infections," said CDC medical officer Michael Jhung.
