Taiwan has placed a temporary ban on imports of poultry from 15 US states as the United States faces its worst outbreak of bird flu since the 1980s.
On Friday, Council of Agriculture official Chang Su-san said that the strains spreading through the US are similar to those behind the outbreak of bird flu that struck Taiwan earlier in the year. Chang said that bird flu spikes during annual bird migrations such as the one that occurs from April to May.
Chang said that Taiwan might consider a temporary ban on all US poultry if the situation worsens. However, she said that for now, Taiwan will only ban imports from states that have reported cases.
Meanwhile, another agricultural official says that Taiwan has been importing far more US poultry than usual due to the outbreak of bird flu that hit domestic production earlier in the year.
As a result, Taiwan has already imported enough US chicken to meet demand for the next three months, keeping prices in check. The official said that this will give domestic production some time to begin catching up with heightened demand.