Switzerland Bans Imports of Dutch, British Poultry
SWITZERLAND - Following outbreaks of avian flu in the Netherlands and the UK, the Swiss authorities have banned imports of poultry from the affected areas of those countries.
24 November 2014
2 minute read
By: To minimise the risk of spreading the virus to the country, the national office for food safety and veterinary affairs (Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit und Veterinärwesen; BLV) has issued two new orders to ban the import of poultry and poultry products from the 3-km pritection zones and the 10-km surveillance zone around the farms where the H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus has been detected in both countries.
BLV explained that the reason is to protect the Swiss poultry sector and that the same conditions are imposed within the EU.
It added that the risk posed by the virus to human health is low.
