South Korea bans Taiwan poultry imports

South Korea has banned imports of all poultry products, including live birds, from Taiwan after Taiwan announced an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, according to reports. The ban prohibits inbound shipments of any poultry products from Taiwan that have been produced since Dec. 7, 2011. Taipei said its first confirmed case dates back to Dec. 27, 2011, according to South Korea's Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the H5N2 strain of avian influenza reported is known to have a maximum incubation period of 21 days. "In addition, we are advising all local farmers to avoid visiting Taiwan and any poultry farms there to help prevent an inflow of [the] virus to the country," said the ministry.