India bans poultry imports

Alarmed by the rapid spread of the deadly bird flu in Asia, India on Thursday announced a series of measures, including a ban on all imports of poultry and processed poultry products.

Addressing a news conference in New Delhi, Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj and Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh said no cases of bird flu have yet been reported in India.

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The two ministers and senior officials of the health, shipping and railways departments and representatives of the World Health Organisation met in Delhi to discuss the problem that has affected at least 10 countries in Asia.

India's neighbours, Pakistan and Mayanmar, have also been affected.

India imports much of its poultry products from the US, Europe and some South East Asian countries.

Swaraj said people crossing the border into India from Pakistan and Myanmar are being screened.

Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat in the north and all northeastern states have been put on red alert.

She said India has received a letter from some SAARC countries to hold a joint meeting to discuss and find possible solutions to the problem.

"We have offered to hold the meeting in India. The Ministry of External Affairs has been asked to do the needful in this regard," Swaraj said.

Special arrangements for screening passengers of the Samjhauta Express and the Delhi-Lahore bus have been put in place. "We are taking the help of Border Security Force for this. All passengers and vehicles will be checked at the borders," the minister said.

Experts believe that the disease, caused by H5, H7 and H9 viruses, can spread even from dead birds and processed meat.

A list of do's and dont's have been issued to the state chief secretaries and a committee in Delhi has been formed to continuously monitor the situation.

"Any group death of poultry birds anywhere in the country has to be reported to Delhi. We have asked officials to kill the birds of the entire poultry farm if such mass deaths are reported. Not just that, the birds have to be burnt after they are killed," Swaraj said.