Fw: Japan Suspends All U.S. Poultry Imports

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Japan Suspends All U.S. Poultry Imports Sat Feb 7,10:55 PM ETTOKYO - Japan has temporarily suspended all imports of American poultry after U.S. agriculture officials confirmed an outbreak of bird flu at a chicken farm in Delaware, the government said Sunday.

AP Photo Agriculture Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said Tokyo took the "precautionary measure" against Japan's fourth-biggest poultry supplier to prevent the spread of avian influenza. Tokyo, which had already banned poultry imports from the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut due to a bird flu outbreak last year, was trying to confirm details of the latest cases, Kamei told reporters. He did not say how long the ban would last. Delaware Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse said Friday that the bird flu strain ­ identified as H7 ­ is different from the one that has swept Asia, and isn't a threat to human health. The state has ordered the slaughter of some 12,000 chickens. Japanese newspapers reported Sunday that Tokyo might lift the ban on poultry from all but the three U.S. states recently afflicted by the bird flu if Japanese officials can confirm the latest strain isn't harmful to people. Avian influenza has killed 18 people and ravaged poultry farms in 10 Asian nations and territories. Governments have slaughtered more than 50 million chickens and banned poultry imports to try to contain its spread. Japan's suspension comes one day after South Korea (news - web sites) effectively banned chicken and duck imports from the United States following the outbreak. The South Korean Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said it will indefinitely halt customs inspection of U.S. poultry "as a precautionary measure." Bird flu has jumped to people in Vietnam and Thailand, with health officials tracing most of those cases directly to contact with sick birds. Experts say the virus may have infected people through another mammal, such as pigs. Asian governments fighting the scourge are Thailand, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan. The strain afflicting Pakistan and Taiwan, however, is milder and not considered dangerous to humans. In the fiscal year ended March 2003, Japan bought 550,000 tons of poultry and poultry products from the United States ­ about 10 percent of such imports. Tokyo has already banned poultry imports from Thailand and China, its two biggest suppliers by volume. Together, the three countries comprise nearly 70 percent of Japan's poultry imports. http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20040208/ap_on_re_as/japan_us_bird_flu_2