Kuwait, other Saudi neighbors ban poultry

KUWAIT CITY, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Several neighbors of Saudi Arabia have banned the import of poultry products from the kingdom after the bird flu outbreak there this month.

Kuwait has banned imports of Saudi birds and eggs, the Kuwait Times reported Monday, and surveillance teams from the government agency responsible for animal health were sent to farms to test poultry flocks for the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Last year Kuwait culled thousands of birds following the detection of H5N1 in an illegally imported falcon, but no outbreaks have been detected there since.

According to local news reports, Yemen and other neighbors have also halted imports of poultry products from Saudi Arabia since the latest outbreak in the kingdom, detected earlier this month, which has led to the culling of 3.5 million birds.

Meanwhile, a brief statement Monday from the official Saudi Press Agency said all birds at a poultry farm south of Riyadh were culled last week after the virus was found there.