UAE bans live poultry and eggs from Cambodia

“It is forbidden to import live poultry and hatching eggs from Cambodia, where some cases of bird flu have appeared,” said a decree by Minister of Agriculture Saeed al-Raqbani carried by the official WAM news agency.

The UAE has already slapped a similar ban on live birds and eggs from Laos.

Kuwait, banned at the end of January the import of bird meat and egg products as well as live chickens and other birds from Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Saudi Arabia also banned on January 28 the import of birds and poultry meat and products from 10 Asian nations, but this excluded Cambodia.

Cambodia, which has reported three outbreaks of bird flu, is situated between Vietnam and Thailand, where the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed a total of 20 people.

Six Cambodians have been tested for the disease but all have been cleared.