SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia lifted a ban on live bird imports from Canada on Wednesday, imposed after three racing pigeons carrying bird flu antibodies were destroyed in quarantine.
Australian Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran said Canadian officials had provided compelling evidence that the country was "free of highly pathogenic avian influenza" and capable of meeting the new testing requirements. "I am of the view that the trade in pigeons and hatching eggs from Canada can now resume with the additional testing requirements," McGauran said in a statement.
McGauran said all birds being imported to Australia must now be tested for the bird flu virus and antibodies before being shipped.
Last week, Australia banned live birds imports from Canada after the pigeons tested positive for bird flu antibodies while being held in quarantine in the southern city of Melbourne. The birds were later destroyed.
McGauran said the pigeons were not carrying bird flu, but only the antibodies - indicating they had been exposed to the virus at some time.
There are 144 known strains of avian flu, most of them harmless.
Bird flu is difficult for humans to catch, but scientists are concerned that a particularly lethal strain now circulating, known as H5N1, could mutate into a form easily transmitted between people, triggering a possible human flu pandemic.
It was not clear if the birds had been exposed to the deadly H5N1 strain, which has ravaged poultry stocks across large swaths of Asia and killed more than 60 people, mostly in Thailand and Vietnam.
After the discovery of the antibodies, McGauran banned bird imports from Canada, saying Canadian authorities had incorrectly certified the pigeons as disease-free.
"Australian Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran said Canadian officials had provided compelling evidence that the country was "free of highly pathogenic avian influenza" and capable of meeting the new testing requirements. "I am of the view that the trade in pigeons and hatching eggs from Canada can now resume with the additional testing requirements," McGauran said in a statement."
I put the above quote through the Babal Fish Tower Online Translator from Politik Spin into plain English and got the following translation:
"I made a mistake. I am not a big enough person to admit it, but at least I will try and undo some of the damage my knee jerk alarmist uninformed blunder created."
The Above article was Taken From a Post to the SAPML By: Connie Steacy
byRoss, Wednesday, 26 October 2005 11:29, Comments(0)
