Japan lifts some bans on poultry from US, Canada

The Japanese government has lifted trade restrictions on poultry and poultry products from some regions in the United States and Canada where avian influenza had been earlier detected.
Poultry imports from the U.S. states of Arkansas, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Kansas, Montana and Indiana can resume, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries stated on August 28, as well as from the Canadian province of British Columbia.
However, Japan will keep trade restrictions in place for poultry from Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Nebraska, as well as the Canadian province of Ontario, pending local checks by Japanese officials.
There have been no new confirmed cases of avian influenza in the United States since the virus was detected at an Iowa layer farm on June 17. Since December 2014, avian influenza has affected more than 48 million birds in the United States.
It has even been longer since a new case of avian influenza has been reported in Canada, with the last case occurring in Ontario in April. Ontario and British Columbia are the only two provinces with avian influenza cases confirmed. Between those two provinces, an estimated 266,700 birds were affected by avian influenza in Canada.