Government bans birds from eight countries

WASHINGTON -- The government on Wednesday announced a ban on the import of birds from eight Southeast Asian countries following outbreaks of avian flu that have killed at least 15 people and millions of birds.

The temporary ban, announced by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, is effective immediately, and is aimed to protect people and poultry in the United States from the possible spread of bird flu.

There is no evidence any birds infected with bird flu have been imported to the country, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said.

The ban applies to birds and uncertified bird products from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and China, including Hong Kong. Bird products are allowed in if they have been processed to render them noninfectious.

Processed bird products from the countries must have an import permit and government certification of treatment.

The bird flu is an extremely infectious and fatal poultry disease that spreads rapidly from flock to flock.

It occurs naturally in wild birds but is particularly deadly to domesticated birds like chickens. It can also spread from birds to people. Health officials are concerned about the potential for the human and bird flu viruses to swap genes, creating a new virus from which people would have little or no immunity.

The United States imports about 20,000 birds each year from countries with current bird flu outbreaks, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The United States has had tight restrictions, requiring a quarantine in which birds from the eight countries had to be tested for exotic Newcastle disease and bird flu. Now the quarantine is being replaced with a complete ban, said Agriculture Department spokeswoman Alisa Harrison.

Health officials have said safely destroying infected birds is the best way to contain the disease. Mass slaughter and import bans have ravaged Asia's poultry industry -- some 50 million birds, mostly chickens, have been killed.

Experts at an urgent meeting about bird flu in Rome this week said they will push animal vaccination as an alternative to slaughtering more birds to contain the disease.

Other recommendations from the Rome meeting included improved coordination, especially between affected countries, the United Nations and other international agencies; transparency in reporting developments about the disease; and increased surveillance.

The need for prompt and accurate reporting of how disease spreads was highlighted by the evolution of last year's SARS outbreak in Asia. China was criticized for keeping quiet about SARS when the disease first emerged. SARS eventually killed 774 people as it spread to other countries, before subsiding in June.

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On the Net:

Health and Human Services Department: http://www.hhs.gov

Agriculture Department: http://www.usda.gov