AVA: Poultry imports from parts of Tennessee & Wisconsin suspended due to avian flu

Imports of poultry, poultry products, processed eggs and live birds from parts of the US states of Tennessee and Wisconsin are suspended by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), after reports they had been affected by avian flu.
AVA said in a statement that it had suspended imports from Lincoln County in Tennessee and from a 10km around affected areas in Barron County, Wisconsin.
However, processed poultry products such as pasteurised eggs and canned chicken products, which have been heat treated to eliminate the bird flu virus, are excluded from the suspension. Accredited establishments from unaffected areas are not hit by the suspension, it added.
The agency said, “AVA is in regular communication with authorities in the USA on the bird flu situation and will continue to monitor the developments closely.”
“AVA would like to reassure the public that poultry in Singapore are free from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and are safe for consumption,” it affirmed.
AVA then informed that since 2016, there has been no import of chicken from Tennessee, USA, and import of poultry from Wisconsin is also negligible at less than 0.1 per cent for processed chicken.
Channel NewsAsia reported the US Department of Agriculture said on Sunday (5 Mar), that a farm in southern Tennessee, a supplier to Tyson Foods, had been infected with avian flu. 73,500 birds were killed by the disease, while the remaining have been suffocated with foam to prevent spread.
The chicken companies had become apprehensive because the infected farm is located near the biggest-producing states for chicken meat, including Georgia and Alabama.
US trading partners, including South Korea and Japan, had earlier restricted shipments of US poultry because of the infection in Tennessee, CNA wrote.
On 27 Feb, AVA has just lifted the restriction on import of poultry and poultry products from Denmark.