The Guyana Poultry Producers Association views the recent ban by Trinidad and Tobago on the importation of raw and cooked poultry meat from Guyana as a precautionary measure and does not foresee any issues for the poultry market here since Guyana does not export poultry to that country.
“There is no official link to the Duck hepatitis virus and what is happening here but it looks like they [Trinidad and Tobago] are being cautious. We don’t export poultry there…,” David Fernandes, a member of the association, said.
He added that while vets from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) suspect the Duck hepatitis virus is affecting the Muscovy breed of ducklings, they are awaiting the results from samples sent abroad to identify the sickness.
Last Friday, Trinidad’s Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat advised that raw and cooked poultry meat from Guyana has been banned from entry into Trinidad and Tobago with immediate effect.
“As a precaution the Ministry’s Chief Veterinary Office has notified the Customs and Excise Division of an immediate ban on raw and cooked poultry originating from Guyana. While Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago do not trade with each other in poultry, the ban is precautionary and targets passengers coming into Trinidad and Tobago with raw or cooked poultry in their possession. The ban is instituted because Guyana has advised of the existence of Duck virus hepatitis in a part of Guyana,” the Minister was quoted as saying in a report posted by www.looptt.com.
However, he added that the virus is not present in Trinidad and Tobago.
Duck hepatitis virus is a highly fatal contagious disease of young ducklings between 1-28 days old.
In addition, Fernandes related that a report was compiled and filed with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The Ministry of Agriculture here has been silent on the issue and on the ban imposed by the sister CARICOM nation.
Fernandes, however, related that the Duck hepatitis virus is non-transmissible to chicken and other domestic birds and does not have any effects on the quality of chicken produced.
He said that Guyanese consumers can rest assured that the meats produced locally can be used for consumption since there is no problem in the poultry industry.
Asked about the GLDA response towards the issue with the Muscovy ducklings, Fernandes said they handled it exceptionally and to his knowledge, they have been speaking to farmers and carrying out their own investigation to determine the cause of the disease.
“…our vets have done a good job in handling the situation. They have worked over the last few weeks with farmers looking at symptoms, doing necropsies, collected samples for testing and submitted a report to the OIE on the current status of the problem,” he said.
On May 18, GLDA issued a notice advising that its surveillance team had seen an increased mortality rate of the ducklings being hatched at its hatchery. The agency said that it had also been told by some farmers that a “similar occurrence was taking place on a number of farms throughout the various regions.”
The high mortality rates were recorded primarily in the Muscovy breed of ducklings, generally between the ages of two to three weeks. The GLDA said that it has not received reports of high mortality in adult Muscovy ducks and other breeds such as Pekin and the Kunshan.
“The ducklings most affected are from the farms that toll hatch at the GLDA hatchery, therefore, as a result of this unusual occurrence, the GLDA is currently conducting an active surveillance exercise throughout all 5 coastal regions and [is] monitoring the breeding flocks of the affected farmers. We are hereby seeking the cooperation of the duck farmers to conduct the surveillance exercise,” the GLDA notice had said.
Farmers had told Stabroek News that they have suffered tremendous losses due to the increased mortality rate among the Muscovy ducklings.
The GLDA had also said that it was working with an overseas reference laboratory to have this “unusual event” addressed as quickly as possible.
“We at the GLDA are aware that the economic impact on the duck farming community is going to be huge and we are working assiduously to have this situation rectified at the earliest opportune time,” it had said.
