The Livestock and Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry recently gave instructions to their provincial colleagues in Luang Namtha and Phongsaly, both provinces having border connections with China, to stop the import of poultry products until the outbreak of the virus has come under control.

Officer from the province said that the province had also announced this decision to local authorities as part of virus spreading prevention measures. The provincial livestock and fisheries section still has only limited funding to support the technical staff in the promotion of animal health in local areas

“Luang Namtha province has established a bird flu prevention team to disseminate the information about the dangerous H7N9 virus and carefully monitor the virus in target areas such as the capital's markets and villages near the Chinese border.

Each year, Laos imports many tonnes of poultry products including chicken, duck and other species from China through Luang Namtha and Phongsaly provinces but the authorities are unable to state the exact number of birds. Some people are importing illegally because they live in villages close to the Chinese border, which leaves a big problem for the authorities to deal with when trying to control imports.

To prevent the virus spreading to Laos, the Livestock and Fisheries Department has also ordered the other provinces to be more vigilant in looking for any signs of it.

So far no H7N9 case has been reported in Laos but China has confirmed that 23 people were killed by the virus out of a total of 121 cases reported since the outbreak of the new subtype of avian influenza virus started, according to the China Daily News.

Other neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia have also imposed bans on the import of poultry products from China despite no H7N9 cases having been found in either place.

You can also read the further information by downloading the below document on the notification from Department of Live Stock and Fisheries called for addressing surveillance and prevent Avian Influenza in Poultry 

Information Source: Vientiane Time Newspaper 

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