Kuwait set to ban Saudi imports over bird flu scare

Kuwait: The trade minister of Kuwait is expected to ban poultry imports from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia following growing fears in the GCC over the persistence of the bird flu virus among the region's poultry, according to media reports.

The KSA was hit with bird flu in March, causing demand for poultry to fall by 30 per cent in some provinces.

Kuwait itself also experienced new cases of the virus in late March. Three new outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus brought the number of infected birds in the country this year to 57.