Saudi Arabia has imposed a ban on imports of poultry meat and egg products from the Canadian province of Ontario over the detection of avian influenza at three farms.
Recently, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the presence of H5 avian influenza on a third farm in Oxford County, Ontario.
According to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, the current ban would continue until the situation in Canada becomes normal, Digital Journal reported.
Canada's agriculture and agri-food department spokesman Patrick Girard said that the market was worth about C$825,000 ($990,000) in 2014, which represent 0.4% Ontario's poultry exports.
In March, Saudi imposed a similar ban on chicken imports from Thailand.
Earlier, countries including Hong Kong, Uruguay, Japan and Taiwan have issued temporary bans on poultry and poultry products over avian flu outbreak in Canada.
Besides Ontario, bird flu virus was discovered in the western Canadian province of British Columbia last December.
Moreover, several US states have also reported the presence of this highly pathogenic H5N2 strain this year.
Recently, the US state of Minnesota declared a state of emergency due to H5N2 avian influenza outbreak in the state
Image: The bird flu outbreak in Canada has prompted trade restrictions on poultry and poultry products from several countries. Photo: courtesy of think4photop/ freedigitalphotos.net.
