Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has banned the import of livebirds, hatching eggs and chicks temporarily from Viet Nam due to the bird flu disease.

Osama Bin Abdullah Al-Saleh, director general of the Department of Animal and Plant Quarantine, on Sunday said the ban was imposed following the bird flu warning in Viet Nam, issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Several cases of avian flu have been detected, therefore, the import suspension will remain until the disease is completely eradicated, Osama added.

Earlier, the ministry on March 26 also banned the import of live poultry, hatching eggs and chicks from Tennessee after a form of bird flu that is highly lethal for poultry was detected in the United States. 

This suspension was imposed after WOAH’s warning and would remain in place until Tennessee is free from the disease.

In March, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture said two flocks of chicken were found to be infected with the highly pathogenic H7N9 flu. 

VNS