Agriculture Ministry bans poultry imports from several European countries

AMMAN — The government has banned the import of poultry products from several European countries, where cases of bird flu were reported, an official said on Thursday.

Veterinary authorities from a number of European countries announced on the World Organisation for Animal Health’s website that cases of bird flu were detected in order to alert importers, Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

“The ban on the import of poultry products will continue until infected countries are declared free of bird flu,” Haddadin added.

The ban applies to all poultry products imported from Italy, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, which include frozen poultry, chicken mortadella and minced turkey, he noted.

Bird flu or avian influenza (AI) is an infectious viral disease of birds (especially wild water fowl such as ducks and geese), often causing no apparent signs of illness, according to the World Health Organisation. 

AI viruses can sometimes spread to domestic poultry and cause large-scale outbreaks of serious disease. Some of these AI viruses have also been reported to cross the species barrier and cause disease or subclinical infections in humans and other mammals, according to the WHO website.

Most avian influenza viruses do not infect humans; however some, such as A(H5N1) and A(H7N9), have caused serious infections in people. 

Nearly 650 cases of human cases of H5N1 have been reported from 15 countries since 2003, according to web sources.