Singapore suspends poultry imports from regions in Japan, US, and other countries hit by bird flu outbreak

SINGAPORE — Singapore has suspended the import of raw poultry and poultry products from several regions in countries affected by an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. These places include four Japanese prefectures — Saga, Ibaraki, Saitama and Kagoshima — as well as several regions in the United States, Canada, France, Belgium and Germany. In circulars to meat and egg traders dated Dec 8, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said the temporary restriction was imposed in light of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu. “Heat-treated poultry products which comply with the World Organisation for Animal Health guidelines for inactivation of AI virus will not be subjected to the restriction,” stated the circular for Japanese imports. Heat-treated poultry refers to products like processed food. Bird flu, which has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds in the past years, usually strikes in Europe during autumn and winter. It was also ...