Frozen poultry imports from France banned over bird flu cases

AMMAN — The government has banned the import of frozen poultry from France, where bird flu cases were reported, an official said on Tuesday.

"The import of frozen poultry has been banned from four provinces in France where bird flu cases were detected. The ban was put in place less than a month ago and is still in effect," Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

Several countries banned the import of poultry from France following the outbreak of avian flu — most recently Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Both the civil and the military consumer corporations used to sell French frozen poultry, Haddadin said, noting that the ban did not affect the prices and availability of frozen poultry in the local market.

Veterinary authorities usually announce on the World Organisation for Animal Health’s website that a case of bird flu was detected in order to alert importers, according to the ministry.

“The ban on the import of frozen poultry will continue until the infected country is declared free of bird flu,” Haddadin said.

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 (WHO).

AI viruses can sometimes spread to domestic poultry and cause large-scale outbreaks of serious diseases. 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 AI viruses do not infect humans; however some, such as A (H5N1) and A (H7N9), have caused serious infections in people.