Brazzaville bans poultry imports over bird flu

The Republic of Congo (ROC) has banned the importation of poultry in efforts to prevent avian influenza, an official of the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday. "Orders for poultry imports from countries currently hit by the epidemic and reported by the World Health Organization [WHO] are banned until further notice," Alphonse Okoye, the director-general of consumption and supply in the ministry, said in the ROC capital, Brazzaville. According to WHO, avian influenza, or "bird flu", is a contagious disease caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. Avian influenza viruses are highly species-specific but have, on rare occasions, crossed the species barrier to infect humans. "Regarding poultry orders that have already been made, as soon as the fowls arrive at the border, importers should obtain a health certificate duly filled before selling them," Okoye said. Information available on WHO's website indicates that in domestic poultry, infection with avian influenza viruses causes two main forms of disease, distinguished by low and high extremes of virulence. The so-called "low pathogenic" form, according to WHO, commonly causes only mild symptoms such as ruffled feathers, a drop in egg production, and may easily go undetected. The highly pathogenic form is far more dramatic. It spreads very rapidly through poultry flocks, causes disease affecting multiple internal organs, and has a mortality that can approach 100 percent, often within 48 hours. Although it is a tropical country, ROC largely depends on poultry imports for its three million people. According to government estimates, its annual budget for food imports is at least 100 billion francs CFA (US $184 million). The country imports poultry from Asian, European and South American countries. It imports bovine meat from the neighbouring Chad. Some 70 percent of Congolese are engaged in agriculture, which is practiced in all 11 administrative departments of the country. Agricultural products are almost exclusively used for subsistence.