Bird imports from Australia banned over avian flu

The country has banned imports of birds and poultry products from Australia following recent cases of bird flu here.

There were reported outbreaks of H7N3 and H7N9 – subtypes of the highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus – on May 23 and 25 in the state of Victoria, as confirmed by the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Manila’s Department of Agriculture said.