Oman bans poultry imports from India

DUBAI: Oman has barred import of poultry and poultry products from India for a second time this year following an outbreak of bird flu virus in Karnataka.

The decision was taken following reports that an avian influenza outbreak in Bangalore was confirmed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) last week.

This is the second time in a year that Oman has imposed a ban on poultry products from India after a similar move in March.

According to a report in the Muscat Daily, a senior official in Oman's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) said the restrictions came into effect this week.

On September 18, Fuad bin Jaafar al Sajwani, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, had announced the lifting of a ban on the import of live birds and poultry products from India.

The earlier ban was imposed in March after OIE had confirmed reports of the spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in a few districts of Odisha, Tripura and Meghalaya.

Karnataka confirmed last month the detection of avian influenza in turkey and chicken at a farm where the H5N1 virus claimed over 3,600 turkeys.