Sarawak bans Sabah chicken products
LAW AS: The Sarawak government has banned the import of poultry and its products from Sabah as a preventive measure against the spread of bird flu from the neighbouring state.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail confirmed that the Sarawak Veterinary Services Department has imposed a ban on the import of chicken products from Sabah since Aug 1 following the bird flu epidemic in Tuaran, Sabah.
He said the department has cancelled all import permits for products from Sabah.
“Only Lawas is af fected as Limbang is general ly sel fsufficient as it is sourced from Sarawak,” he added.
Limbang Division veterinary officer Dr William Rovina Nating, in a statement, said the decision has been communicated to all heads of government departments in Lawas.
“The ban includes any products that entered Sarawak where import permits had been approved before this ban came into effect,” he said.
He said the ban would only be lifted once Sarawak is satisfied that the bird flu threat in Sabah is over. Sabah recorded its fi rstever case of Avian Influenza ( bird flu) after a farm in the TamparuliTuaran area tested positive for the virus.
Sabah Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, through the Department of Veterinary Services ( DVS), had advised the public to not panic as the matter was well under control. DVS had been conducting researches on poultry farms around the state since July 12, following viral messages circulating on social media that there was a spread of bird flu in the state.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Junz Wong had ordered the DVS to conduct regular check- ups on chickens and eggs.
A test conducted on July 31 revealed that a farm in the Tuaran-Tamparuli area came back positive for the virus and the ministry ordered several farms within the one-kilometre vicinity of the said farm to be sealed off and cleansed.