Travellers entering Canada from the U.S. can now bring in uncooked poultry products and eggs from Indiana, Montana and/or Arkansas.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) during August declared each of those three states free of highly pathogenic (“high-path”) avian flu, following discoveries of infected poultry in those states this spring.
Poultry from Indiana had been blocked since a backyard flock was confirmed infected with high-path H5N8 avian flu in May; Montana, since a backyard flock was confirmed with H5N2 in April; and Arkansas, since a commercial turkey farm was found to have H5N2 in March.
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Cross-border travellers entering Canada still may not bring in poultry or related products from California, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and/or Wisconsin.
Affected items include live birds and hatching eggs, eggs, yolks, egg whites (albumen), poultry meat, feathers, poultry manure, poultry litter and raw pet foods containing poultry products. Travellers “may not bring these items into Canada.”
Commercial imports are also restricted — but only from specific quarantine zones — from the remaining 12 states until further notice, CFIA said.
Live pet birds may be brought into Canada if they come with official certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), CFIA added.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), as of Monday last week, had declared 11 of the country’s 15 avian flu-infected states to be no longer under any restriction and “free to move live poultry and poultry products domestically and internationally.”
On top of the three states CFIA has cleared, APHIS has also declared California, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin free of avian flu, but CFIA hasn’t yet publicly declared Canada open to cross-border poultry imports by travellers from those states.
States not yet released from APHIS’ restrictions “are making good progress and control areas in those states are being removed as they meet the time elements and other measures for release,” the agency said in its report last week to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). — AGCanada.com Network
