Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan has suspended the import of poultry meat and products from Iran since June 22.

Yolchu Khanveli, the representative of the State Veterinary Service at the Azerbaijan Agriculture Ministry, said Azerbaijan banned import of poultry and eggs from the Iranian province of Mazandaran, citing immediate public health concerns.

Earlier on June 19, a case of avian influenza virus had been reported in a flock of 25 birds in Amol village in the province of Mazandaran, according to the National Wildlife Health Center.

Seven birds from the flock died and the rest were culled to prevent the further spread of the virus.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is highly contagious among birds, and can be deadly, especially for domestic poultry. Since December 2003, the Asian HPAI H5N1 virus resulted in devastatingly high rate of mortality for poultry and wild birds in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.

In order to prevent the spread of these viruses in the country, Azerbaijan temporarily halted the import of poultry into the country, Khanveli noted.

The situation has been under control as of June 22, and there have been no recorded cases of the virus thus far. To maintain stability, the government takes all the necessary measures, Khanveli stressed.

The poultry industry developed in Azerbaijan in the late 90's, thanks to the privatization and modernization of Soviet era factory farms. The industry now uses modern automation technology in new, more technologically advanced facilities.

Experts say that today, poultry is the most lucrative sector in Azerbaijan’s domestic livestock, which helps to offset the amount of poultry imported into the country.

“The state program on providing the Azerbaijani population of food products for 2008-2015” aimed to increase the production of poultry meat in the country to 90,000 tons from 61,000 in 2007 and egg production to 1.3 billion pieces from 953 million in 2007.

Since 2011, the demand for eggs was covered mainly by imports, due to a lack of breeding farms. Only 45 percent of domestic demand was covered by the country.

After establishing a large poultry farm in Zira village in 2011, equipped with modern facilities made in Holland, Italy, and Turkey, the costs of producing eggs were significantly reduced.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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