Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

PNG bans NSW poultry imports over flu fears

Posted at 01:38 on 22 November, 2012 UTC

Papua New Guinea’s National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority has suspended imports of uncooked poultry products from New South Wales in Australia because of an outbreak of an avian influenza.

The Post Courier reports that the influenza, known as H7 type, was found to have killed ten percent of the 50,000 hens at a farm in Maitland in the Australian state.

The Authority’s managing director, Andrew Yamanea, has taken out full page advertisements in PNG’s daily newspapers to inform the public.

He says Australian authorities have contained the situation and there is little risk of the disease spreading to PNG.