040223 End of Poultry Bans SoughtFebruary 22, 2004A U.S. effort to end embargoes on poultry exports from Delaware was announced yesterday by U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D., Del.). More than 20 countries last week banned some imports of U.S. poultry because of the discovery of the avian-flu virus in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Biden said an interagency task force - including the State Department, the National Security Council, the office of the U.S. trade representative, and the Department of Agriculture - would work with foreign governments to swiftly lift the embargoes. "This initiative is critical to protecting the livelihoods of thousands of Delaware farmers and agricultural workers," Biden said. The bird flu was reported in Delaware on Feb. 6 and subsequently in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The virus strains in Delaware and New Jersey were found to be more virulent then that found in Pennsylvania. Both are different from the avian-flu virus blamed for 22 people's deaths in Thailand and Vietnam. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com |
