China bans U.S. poultry, eggs amid avian-flu fears

Products currently en route will either be destroyed or returned

(REUTERS) — China has banned all imports of U.S. poultry, poultry products and eggs amid recent reports of highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza found in the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.

All such products currently en route to the country will either be destroyed or returned, according to the agency and the U.S. trade group USA Poultry & Egg Export Council.

The ban, effective as of Jan. 8, also applies to poultry breeding stock, which includes live chicks and hatching eggs.

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