Government officials on Wednesday sat down to a chicken feast to restore public confidence in the safety of the country’s poultry supply as avian influenza continues to spread through Asia.
After touring a chicken farm in Takhmau district, Kandal province, government officials and members of print and broadcast media sat down to a sumptuous banquet of chicken and egg dishes.
“This is a campaign to make people understand and restore confidence” in domestic poultry, Ministry of Agriculture Secretary of State Chan Tong Yves said after finishing his meal.
Bird flu has not been found in any of the farm’s 40,000 breeding birds, said Sakol Cheewakoset, a Thai national who is president of CP Cambodia Co Ltd, which owns the farm.
Despite the safety of his tightly monitored flocks, consumer confidence has still dropped, he said.
“The consumers get confused and scared to eat poultry, [but] I believe people will eat it” if they know that it is safe, he said.
The stunt, similar to those recently performed by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, came the same day the European Union announced that it was banning the importation of pet birds from nine Asian countries affected by bird flu, including Cambodia, adding to the list of countries that have sealed their borders for fear of spreading the disease.
Cambodia banned the importation of birds and bird products from countries that have reported cases of bird flu. On Tuesday, officials in Banteay Meanchey province seized 3.5 tons of chicken balls smuggled from Thailand. It was the second time that bird products have been seized since the ban was instituted Jan 12.
“We have an obligation to seize not only poultry and poultry products, but also other products that affect consumers’ health,” said Tor Leang Kung, provincial customs office chief. “I am preparing a report to send to the provincial court to take action against the vehicle owner and the owner of the chicken balls.”
The seized poultry was destroyed Wednesday morning in Serei Saophoan district, he said.
Officials are still monitoring Cambodia’s poultry stocks, where thousands of birds have died in recent weeks, some from confirmed bird flu.
In late January, the government reportedly killed 3,300 chickens at three farms around Phnom Penh, where 18,000 chickens died from unknown illnesses. Since Jan 12, 1,880 chickens have died from Newcastle disease, said San Sovann, deputy director of the Agriculture Ministry’s Department of Animal Health and Production.
At a meeting between government officials and donors on Tuesday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization pledged nearly $400,000 to assist in fighting the disease, said Suon Sothoeun of the Department of Animal Health and Production.
The money will be used for staff training and technical assistance in handling the disease, as well as disinfectant products and protective gear for workers killing the birds, Suon Sothoeun said.
“We do not have such materials,” Suon Sothoeun said. Cambodia had negotiated the use of such materials from the World Health Organization at the first sign of the outbreak in January, but “that was just a small quantity, and now that we are in the full operation we need more,” he said.
Cambodia had originally asked for $600,000 in assistance, Suon Sothoeun said, and is looking for donors to supply the rest.
The WHO is supplying two technical experts in diagnosis and epidemiology, said Sean Tobin, an epidemiologist with the WHO. They are expected to arrive from France on Friday.
No person has become infected with bird flu in Cambodia, and there are no suspected human cases, Tobin said.
The flu “is affecting relatively few people, despite how many people are exposed,” Tobin said.
He noted that the disease is contracted through close contact with infected birds and not by eating cooked bird meat or eggs.
That has not stopped countries from taking measures to protect themselves from possible bird flu infection.
Last week, Canada warned its citizens traveling through Asia not to eat undercooked poultry. Spain told travelers planning visits to certain countries, including Cambodia, to stay away from poultry markets, farms and nature parks.
“We’re in a situation where the [European] Commission has to take very seriously the risk for consumers in the EU,” said Winston McColgan, charge d’affaires for the EC’s delegation to Cambodia.
He added that an EU ban on fresh bird meat from flu-affected countries does not impact Cambodia, as the country does not export any poultry to Europe.
Despite some warnings, the outbreak has not appeared to affect the country’s tourism industry. There have been no cancellations or drop-offs in reservations, said Nuth Nin Voeurn, secretary of state at the Ministry of Tourism.
He said that he was “not at all” concerned about the disease’s potential impact on his industry, since no human cases have been reported in Cambodia.
(Additional reporting by Kuch Naren)
