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Despite complaints, PA determined to ban bird imports amid bird flu outbreak in Israel

The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has adopted strict measures to prevent bird flu from reaching its farms from Israel, which has inflicted heavy financial losses on farmers.
A Palestinian vendor cleans chicken at his shop in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 06 January 2008. Palestenian Health Minister Fathi Mughli said today Palestinians should be vigilant after a case of H5N1 strain of bird flu that is dangerous to humans was detected in the northern Israeli town of Binyamina on the Mediterranean coast. AFP PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

RAMALLAH, West Bank — As part of measures to prevent the spread of bird flu, the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in Ramallah culled thousands of young birds imported from Israel, thus inflicting huge material losses on Palestinian farmers in the West Bank.

The ministry announced in a statement Dec. 14 strict preventive measures in the wake of the outbreak of bird flu within the Green Line, after the Israeli Veterinary Services informed veterinary authorities in the West Bank about the registration of clusters of the flu (H5N8) in different areas within the Green Line, specifically at turkey, poultry and poultry barns.

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