Port checks stepped up after Suriname bird flu outbreak

B arbados has strengthened surveillance at its ports of entry following an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Suriname, but Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Trotman said on Friday there was no immediate threat to the poultry industry. In September, agricultural officials in Paramaribo confirmed the presence of the H5 strain of avian influenza. The outbreak decimated a commercial operation in the Wanica and Paramaribo area, killing approximately 5 000 broiler chickens. The outbreak put neighbouring Guyana on high alert. To contain the disease’s rapid spread, Surinamese veterinary authorities were forced to cull the remaining 1 000 birds on the property. The Pan American Health Organisation is currently conducting advanced laboratory testing to determine the specific genetic strain and how the virus sickens birds.

Despite the severity of the outbreak in the fellow CARICOM member state, Dr Trotman sought to assure the public that Barbados remains secure, saying there was no immediate threat to poultry, largely due to stringent import regulations long in place. He told Barbados TODAY : “As far as the measures that we are taking to mitigate against the entry of HPAI from anywhere, really and truly, we haven’t put anything specific in place right now for Suriname, other than our normal quarantine protocols. “We make sure that we have a permitting system so that poultry and all meats only come from approved countries. ” Crucially for consumers and poultry farmers, Barbados does not currently engage in commercial poultry trade with Suriname on any meaningful scale. According to Dr Trotman, a robust permitting system already serves as a formidable barrier against bringing in commercial poultry from unapproved or high-risk territories. But the vulnerability…