Taiwan bans imports of live poultry from Lithuania over bird flu

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture announced that Lithuania has been removed from the list of countries free of avian flu and has banned live poultry imports from the country after an outbreak was confirm at a local poultry farm. The announcement was made after Lithuania reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza virus to World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on January 8, 2021.

Taiwan does not currently import live birds from the European country, the ban should not have any effect on local supplies.

The outbreak of H5N8 avian influenzas virus have also been reported among backyard poultry or wild birds in a number of countries including Japan, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Slovakia, Iran, Italy, Croatia, Russia and China.