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[LAD]

 Manila bans Chinese beef and poultry from Canada, Belgium on health fears
The Philippines has banned the import of cattle from China as well as poultry products from Belgium and Canada's British Columbia to protect human health and the local animal industry.

Manila: The Philippines has banned the import of cattle from China as well as poultry products from Belgium and Canada's British Columbia to protect human health and the local animal industry.

According to Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras, the government has banned cattle and bovine products from China to prevent the entry of the foot-and-mouth disease following reports that several cows had been afflicted with the illness in the Chinese province of Xinjiang and Hubei.

Based on a directive issued by Paras, agricultural authorities are also on the lookout for birds and poultry products from Belgium and British Columbia where and outbreak of bird flu had been reported.

Paras has ordered quarantine officers and inspectors at all major ports to stop and confiscate all shipments of live birds, and poultry products originating from the mentioned areas.

Fifty-one countries have reported bird flu in their domestic poultry sectors and the World Health Organization has reported that as of mid-February, there were 408 laboratory-confirmed cases of bird flu and 254 human fatalities from the disease since the virus broke out in southeast Asia in 2003.