Reinforce ban on meat from Japan, S. Korea

The Department of Lands and Natural Resources has ordered the Quarantine Office to strictly enforce a ban on the importation of meat from South Korea and Japan due to the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in these two countries.

While imported meat on the island comes mainly from the United States, the department has expressed concern that tourists coming from these countries may bring in meat to the island, according to Marianne Teregeyo, special assistant at DLNR.

The CNMI has not had any outbreak of FMD, and the local Division of Agriculture has always banned the importation of meat from countries with the history of the disease.

Ms. Teregeyo said the ban on the entry of meat from South Korea and Japan will continue until the disease has been eradicated in these countries. The Animal Health Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Japan has reported the infection of FMD among cattle.

FMD is an acute, highly contagious infection of cloven hooved animals which may spread over great distances with movement of infected or contaminated animals, products, objects and people. Large amount of virus are excreted by infected animals before clinical signs are evident and winds may spread the virus over long distances.

People can be infected through skin wounds or the oral mucosa by handling diseased stock, the virus in the laboratory or by drinking infected milk, but not by eating meat from infected animals. FMD is not considered a public health problem since the human infection is temporary and mild.

Animals infected with FMD (pigs, sheep, goats and cattle) show signs of salivation, depression, lameness caused by the presence or painful blisters in the skin of the lips, tongue, gums, nostrils.

An outbreak of FMD has resulted in millions of dollars in losses in production, export market and animals during eradication of the disease.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service has announced that dry soup mixes regardless of packaging, which contain small quantities of meat will be allowed entry even if they came from countries with FMD.

However, these dry soup mixes containing small quantities of beef, poultry, or pork arriving in passenger baggage and the mail will no longer be seized as long as there are no more than 15 individual packages per passenger or shipment and the soup mixes which contain beef are not from a country affected with BSE, according to
Mitchell Nelson, director for Guam and the CNMI.

In its first major policy change in 10 years, the Philippines, China and Hong Kong will no longer be required to present special certification.

Earlier, the USDA required beef or pork bouillon cubes without meat or bones certificates from government animal health service stating meat from product has been cooked to an internal temperature of 175 deg F.