For the past few days, the specialists of the State Service for Food Safety visits one of the well-known poultry farms to check the health state of Turkish chicks. The point is that Aravot.am had received information that after the case of bird flu approved in Turkey on April 23, broiler chickens were imported to Armenia from Turkey without an obstacle, which were not excluded of already being infected by H5N1 virus. Although the food imported from the Republic of Turkey are subject to mandatory laboratory testing on our customs border as defined by the procedures, however, in the case of live bird, viruses of this type are analyzed only when there are suspicious symptoms with the bird. “In the case of the bird flu, immediately there is a recession”, so explained the State Service for Food Safety in response to the question of Aravot.am as to how it happened that poultry is imported from Turkey on the quarantine days.
According to the press secretary of the Service, Nvard Arakelyan, the Turkish chicks were already on the way when on May 5, Armenia officially received the information from the World Organization for Animal Health confirming the bird flu in Turkey. Only after one or two-day analysis and studies, the head of the State Food Security Service, Armen Hayrapetyan’s order was followed saying that it is banned to import live poultry, raw materials (feathers, fluff), product and incubation eggs, meat and bone meal, feed, additional feed (except for feed containing chemicals and synthetic staff), polymeric and cardboard boxes and sanitary napkins from the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Armenia until the quarantine is declared cancelled. This means that the head of the Service has issued his order on May 7, whilst the Turkish chicks crossed the border of Armenia on May 6.
To our question of why the chicks were freely entered Armenia when since April 23, we knew that there is a bird flu in Turkey, Nvard Arakelyan said that they had received the order by the head of the Service the next day, therefore, there was no barrier before that and they had no reasons to obstacle. According to the same source, however, the food coming to Armenia from Turkey is inspected on the border, and if the experts had noticed any clinical picture on these chicks on May 6, they would definitely undergo laboratory examination. The Service also reported that their experts visit the Turkish-origin chicks every day to see whether these birds do not have any suspicious symptoms. Anyway, she assured that the chicks are healthy and there are no clinical changes. Today, regarding the bird flu spread out in Turkey, Chairman of the “Union of Armenian Poultry Farmers”, Sergey Stepanian, has also expressed his concern.
In response to our question, Mr. Stepanian also confirmed the information that chicken meat is imported to Armenia on quarantine days. But as to how and how much, the expert was unaware. However, the Chairman of the Union is also concerned that our country is not seriously concerned about the bird flu broke out in the neighboring country, while, in his words, it is a very dangerous infection, especially since it is easily spread out with the help of migratory birds, and when the virus penetrates to our country, it will cause enormous damages. According to Sergey Stepanian, from January 1 up to now, 13 tons of frozen chicks, 73 tons of separated chick meat and 180 tons of frozen grinded chick meat was imported from Turkey to Armenia.
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