Dubai – Mubasher: The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE) on Thursday announced that it has decided to ban importing all live birds from Russia on the back of the outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu, H5N2.
The GCC nation's decision came after the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) notified the outbreak in the region of Rostovskaya Oblast in Russia, according to MoCCAE’s statement.
The minister has implemented the protective measures banning the import of all species of domestic and wild live birds, ornamental birds, chicks, hatching eggs, meats and meat products and non-heat-treated wastes from the affected region, the state-run news agency WAM reported.
It also implemented the ban on previously infected provinces, including Kurskaya Oblast, Astrakhanskaya Oblast, Respublika Kalmykiya, Kostromskaya Oblast, and Voronezhskaya Oblast in the Russian Federation.
"These measures reiterate the Ministry's keenness in achieving its strategic objectives including enhancing bio-security levels and eliminating pathogens before they enter the country. In doing so, the Ministry prevents the bird flu virus and related risks and impacts on the country’s poultry health and safety, in addition to protecting public health and well-being,” Majid Sultan Al Qassimi, director, Animal Development at MoCCAE's Health Department, commented.
