Twenty countries world-wide have banned imports of pork and other meat in response to a flu virus that has infected both people and swine, according to documents from the World Health Organisation. While the new H1N1 strain is not food-borne, fears that it may spread through animal products have prompted restrictions on live pigs, pork, cattle, poultry, livestock, feed and animal semen from countries with reported infections.
According to the documents obtained by Reuters on Monday. The countries that have imposed bans include Russia, China, Switzerland, Croatia, Indonesia, Thailand and Ecuador. Most affect products from Mexico and the United States and some block imports from Canada, New Zealand, Spain, France, Israel, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
Global trade in pork meat is worth about $26 billion a year. The three countries most affected by the bans announced to date - Mexico, the United States and Canada - are among the world's top pork exporters, along with the European Union, Brazil, Chile, China and Hong Kong. The H1N1 virus, which is a mixture of pig, bird and human flus, was originally referred to as "swine flu" despite having only infected people at the time it was discovered.
News about its emergence and spread caused a drop in the market price of hogs and quickly caused Russia, China, Ecuador and other countries to block imports of pigs and pork, despite reassurances from the WTO that they poses no sanitary risks. The new WHO list shows the number of restrictions has risen. Just days after the WHO announced on Thursday it would change the virus name to "A-H1N1" to clarify it was spreading among humans and not pigs, a Canadian farm worker returning from Mexico was reported to have infected a herd of swine with it.
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