According to reporting by Gulf Business, the UAE has banned birds and poultry from Kuwait due to a H5N8 outbreak on Kuwaiti poultry farms.

The ban will be enforced based on a notification by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations’ (FAO) Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases, according to UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE).

The products banned include all species of domestic and wild live birds, ornamental birds, chicks, hatching and table eggs, poultry meat, non-heat-treated by-products and waste from Kuwait. Thermally-treated poultry products for both meat and eggs are the exceptions, which would be allowed into the UAE.

“Through making immediate precautionary measures to cur any strains of the bird flu virus that has affected the UAE, MOCCAE hopes to ensure bio-security levels and prevent the spread of pathogens in the country,” said Sheik Majid Sultan al Qassimi, director of the Animal Health and Development Department at MOCCAE.

“We are confident such efforts will mitigate the impact of the bird flu on the UAE’s poultry health and safety, in addition to protecting public health and well-being.”

As part of efforts to control food imports in relation to the ban, documentation for consignments of food products entering the UAE would be placed under strict inspection. Sensory detection will also be conducted to check project quality and ensure they comply with the UAE’s standards.

In addition, samples from these shipments would be tested at laboratories in the country.

This year, the UAE also blocked the import of poultry and live birds from parts of Russia, following an outbreak of H2N5 bird-flu in the country.