The suspension was effective as of Saturday, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Sunday.
The measure came after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 strain in Oregon to the World Organization for Animal Health on Thursday (local time).
The suspension, which is aimed at preventing an outbreak of bird flu in the country, affects imports of any live birds, eggs, poultry products and wild birds, the ministry said.
The APHIS confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in guinea fowl and chickens from a small backyard poultry flock in Winston, Oregon.
It said the H5N8 virus has not been found in commercial poultry anywhere in the United States.
"There is no immediate public health concern, as the H5N8 virus has been found in birds in other parts of the world and has not caused any human infection to date," the APHIS said in an announcement.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
