THE Agriculture Department has temporarily banned the import of cattle and other animals from China and birds and poultry from Belgium and Canada following fresh outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and bird flu in those countries, an official said yesterday.

The department ordered the ban following a report from the World Animal Health Organization, Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel said.

He said the group had reported outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Hubei and Xinjiang in China.

The group also reported a fresh outbreak of bird flu at a turkey farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, at a geese breeding farm in Buggenhout, East Flanders, and at two farms for ornamental birds and poultry in Bocholt and Limburg, both in Belgium.

Paras said he ordered the ban to protect the Philippines, which along with Brunei and Singapore are the only bird flu-free countries in Southeast Asia.

He said he had also ordered the suspension of all applications to import cattle and poultry from China, Belgium and Canada.

Based on recent reports, 51 countries have reported fresh bird flu outbreaks as of Jan. 21.

The World Animal Health Organization says 408 cases of bird flu and 254 fatalities from the disease have been confirmed as of mid-February since the deadly H5N1 strain broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003.

Paras said the Agriculture Department had also ordered the surveillance of 20 areas in the Philippines being frequented by migratory birds. The department has tested around 46,214 bird samples for the deadly bird-flu strain, but all were negative.

The government has four bird-flu testing facilities in Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City and San Fernando in Pampanga. Othel V. Campos