POULTRY IMPORTATION AND FOWL-PEST.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 20 May 1925, Page 356

POULTRY IMPORTATION AND FOWL-PEST.

An Order in Council ■ gazetted on 7th May prohibits, save under permit issued by the Minister of Agriculture, the importation into New Zealand of poultry (including domestic fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys) from any country other than the Commonwealth of Australia, unless each lot is accompanied by an official certificate from the Country of export that fowl-pest (Pestis gallinarum) has not been known to occur in that country during a period of two years preceding date of certificate. Fowl-pest is an acutely infectious disease caused by an ultra-microscopical virus, and in its course resembles chicken-cholera. It is usually fatal, no effective treatment being known. The disease was first reported from ’ northern Italy, afterwards from Tyrol, Germany, Belgium, and France, and later from England. It has recently spread to the United States, and drastic measures have been put into force to suppress it. Canada has already issued regulations aimed at excluding the disease from her territory. It will therefore be'recognized that restrictions on importation to this country are essential for the safety of our poultry .industry.