NAIA enforces DA ban on Arkansas fowl

MANILA, Philippines - The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is enforcing a ban imposed by the Department of Agriculture on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products from the Arkansas counties of Jasper, Moniteau, Missouri and Boone in the United States.

Dr. Cristina Betito, of the NAIA’s Veterinary Quarantine Services, said she received a memorandum order that suspended the processing and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances for these products from Arkansas.

The ban was put in effect after the US Department of Agriculture confirmed an outbreak of high-pathogenicity avian influenza strain H5N2 at a commercial turkey farm in Arkansas.