The Government has suspended the processing of applications for the import of poultry and poultry meat from Shanxi Province following confirmation of an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak there, the Health, Welfare & Food Bureau says.

It received notification from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Mainland last night of an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak among poultry in Xiaoyi City.

There were no imports of poultry meat and live birds from Shanxi, but should there be any such applications, they would not be processed for now to ensure food safety, it said.