UAE | Health
Ban on Indian poultry products remains effective - official
Reports of outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal have worried public.
- By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:35 January 4, 2009
Dubai: Food safety officials sought to calm the public in the UAE after India reported another outbreak of deadly bird flu, saying the country's ban on Indian poultry imports remains effective.
West Bengal health and veterinary workers began culling 60,000 poultry after confirming a fresh outbreak of H5N1 bird flu near Siliguri town, bordering Bangladesh, on Saturday. No human infections have been reported.
Khalid Mohammad Sharif Al Awadi, head of the food control section at Dubai Municipality, told Gulf News that poultry products in the UAE were safe.
"Any imports of fresh poultry products from Asian countries [including India] have been stopped. The ban has been in place for a long time," he said.
Impact in the past
He added authorities kept abreast with the latest alerts involving bird flu as well as other food-borne diseases.
The UAE has banned the import of poultry products from India since last year.
The ban on the imports initially caused a shortage of eggs on the UAE market.
India first reported bird flu in 2006.
The disease, which is endemic in some parts of Asia, has killed 247 people and sickened 390 people in different countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.
So far, human infections of bird flu have been mostly due to direct contact with sick birds, chickens and ducks. However, health experts fear the virus will mutate, causing a global epidemic.
Bird flu fears peaked in late 2006 and early 2007, prompting many to shun poultry products in the UAE.
Share this article
More from UAE Health
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- Emirati students in US set to rise
- No friends of mother Earth
- Tussle on for tertiary students
- Faded parking lines pose a problem
- UAE to announce H1N1 vaccination campaign
- Focus on best methods of crime investigation
- Benefits of pill-sized camera displayed
- Prosecutions need to adopt new technologies
- Big decline in robberies in Dubai
- Ministry to shut down typing centres
- Car stickers to identify new drivers on road
- So what will it take to float Gulf News' boat?
- Desalination faces 'severe' challenges
- Arab world's future is with solar energy
- Compulsory fitness test for new drivers
Community Reports
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
-
Surprising truth of 'abandoned cars'
An Abu Dhabi resident believes that some mechanics are using parking spaces as rent-free workshops
