DALLAS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport seized 120 hatching quail eggs from an international traveler arriving from Vietnam.
The traveler was carrying the fertile eggs packed in rice hulls in his luggage and verbally declared the agriculture item to a CBP officer who referred the traveler for a baggage exam.
“CBP agriculture specialists are America’s frontline in protecting the nation’s agriculture and livestock industry by intercepting pests, plant disease and prohibited or restricted agriculture items at the ports of entry,” said Dallas CBP Port Director Cleatus P. Hunt Jr. “These types of seizures protect our food sources from invasive and dangerous threats.”
Quail eggs are prohibited from Vietnam because it is listed as a country identified as having Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Exotic Newcastle Disease (END). According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, HPAI was identified in the U.S. in 2014 affecting 211 commercial and 21 backyard poultry premises costing federal taxpayers over $950 million.
Exotic Newcastle Disease, an infection of domestic poultry and other bird species was eradicated in 2002-2003 at a cost of over $180 million in federal funds. USDA attributed the comingling of migratory birds between northeast Asia and Alaska for the entry of HPAI into North America, but the END outbreak was attributed to illegally imported game fowl which eventually spread to commercial poultry.
CBP agriculture specialists have extensive training and experience in the biological sciences and agriculture inspection. Visit Protecting Agriculture for more information about CBP’s mission to protect the nation’s agriculture industry.
The hatching quail eggs were destroyed by steam sterilization.
