HAVANA: Cuba’s food importer has told U.S. traders it won’t be purchasing chicken until at least October, citing bird flu fears. Cuba has suspended U.S. poultry imports due to concerns over bird flu, according to reports Tuesday. The island nation’s state food importer Alimport has informed U.S. traders it won’t accept bids for chicken deliveries in August and September due to “the animal health situation.” “The incidence of the influenza could continue to worsen and put at risk the contracted supplies, which would impact our clients,” Alimport’s commercial director Roberto Zapata said in the letter, which was obtained by Reuters.
Cuba has been able to purchase U.S. agricultural products since 2000, under an exception in the decades-old U.S. blockade. The United States’ poultry industry has been hard hit by a bird flu epidemic since late last year. Over 44 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been culled in attempts to contain the disease since December 2014, making the outbreak the worst in U.S. history. The outbreak isn’t related to the bird flu virus that has affected parts of Asia, Africa and Europe in recent years, and cannot be contracted by humans. Instead, the United States is facing two different strains of bird flu, both of which are threatening farm bird populations across the country. Cuba is just the latest country to impose restrictions on U.S. poultry. China, South Korea and Angola have already imposed total bans on U.S. poultry imports, while all of the United States’ other top importers have passed restrictions on either meat or eggs.
