The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has noted some messages circulating on WhatsApp and social media that claim that a poultry farm in Pontian, Johor, Malaysia is affected by bird flu.
The message also alleged that the farm’s poultry had been slaughtered and sent to Singapore in two lorries.
We would like to clarify that Singapore does not import chilled or frozen poultry from Pontian, as there is currently no poultry slaughterhouse in Pontian accredited by SFA to export chilled/frozen poultry to Singapore.
Only SFA-accredited slaughterhouses are allowed to export frozen poultry from Malaysia to Singapore.
The export of frozen poultry from Malaysia must be accompanied by valid health certificates issued by Department of Veterinary Services, Malaysia.
While Singapore allows live poultry to be imported from approved farms in Pontian, these imports must similarly be accompanied by valid health certificates issued by the Department of Veterinary Services, Malaysia.
They are also subjected to border inspections by the National Parks Board’s Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) to ensure the poultry are healthy before import, and sampling and testing by SFA. No avian influenza* has been detected in poultry from Malaysia thus far.
*Avian influenza is defined by the OIE as infection of poultry by either High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) or Low Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (LPAI) of H5/H7 subtypes.
Source: SFA Facebook Page
