Sunday, August 13, 2006

Cambodia bans poultry imports from neighbors hit by bird flu

A vendor cuts pieces of chicken at a market in Phnom Penh August 13, 2006. Cambodia has suffered its second outbreak of bird flu this year in the same province where the H5N1 virus killed a boy in April, officials said on Saturday. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

AFX News Limited
08.13.2006

PHNOM PENH (XFN-ASIA) - Cambodian agriculture officials have banned the import of poultry from neighboring countries after the kingdom reported its first bird flu outbreak in four months.

Authorities are on high alert after the H5N1 virus was detected on Friday in two ducks in Prey Veng province, 90 kilometers east of the capital Phnom Penh.

'We strongly do not allow the import of any poultry from the neighboring countries which are affected by bird flu,' agriculture ministry secretary of state Yim Voeunthan told Agence France-Presse.

The outbreak was near the border with Vietnam, where 42 people have died since late 2003, the world's highest death toll after Indonesia. Thailand and Laos have also reported fresh outbreaks in the past month.

Yim Voeunthan said the government will monitor the affected area for the next thirty days to ensure the containment of the H5N1 virus.

'During this time, we will not let people take poultry in or out the region,' he said.

Cambodia ordered the slaughter of some 400 ducks to prevent the virus from spreading. Health officials said there are no suspected cases of human bird flu.

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