Philippines bans imports of birds from Australia over bird flu

The Philippines has banned imports of birds and poultry products from Australia following recent cases of bird flu in the country.

There were reported outbreaks of H7N3 and H7N9 — subtypes of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus — on May 23 and May 25 in the state of Victoria, as confirmed by the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Manila's Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Saturday.

In a memorandum signed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel on June 6, all shipments of domestic and wild birds from Australia would be allowed provided that they were slaughtered or produced on or before May 9, according to the statement.

Australia is the Southeast Asian nation's fourth-largest source of imported chicken meat, totaling 5,365 metric tons as of April. During the same period, the Philippines imported 46,987 heads of day-old chicks and 30,780 pieces of hatching eggs, the agriculture department said.