Ministry of Agriculture bans US, Canadian Chicken Products - Why H5N2 Avian Flu is Shadows of 2014 Chicken Shortage during Easter 2015

Planning an Easter Egg hunt with coloured Easter Eggs as described in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to Dye Bright Glow-in-the-Dark Easter Eggs to go with your Easter Bun?”

You may have to rethink your plans for the little ones as there is a coming Chicken Shortage, which means Egg shells may also be in short supply.

Remember in my article on Chikungunya Death entitled “Jamaican Chikungunya Outbreak possible – Why H1N1 Outbreak in Jamaica possible as 1,731 die in India from H1N1 Outbreak” where the Canadian Government via their Public Health Agency of Canada had warned their Canadian Citizens not to travel to the Caribbean as the Chikungunya outbreak is not yet over?

Well, it looks like the Veterinary Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture here in Jamaica has now issued a ban on imported Chicken from both Canada and the US of A out of fears of avian influenza Virus or H5N2 coming to Jamaica as reported in the article “Jamaica Bans Importation Of Poultry And Poultry Products From North America”, Published Thursday March 19, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This ban took effect on Friday March 12^th 2015 as stated in the article “Jamaica Bans Poultry Imports From Parts Of US, Canada”, Published Friday March 20, 2015 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner in a bid to protect our local Chicken Industry.

H5N2 is now known to infect humans and is often confused with H1N1, a strain of the Influenza Virus also referred to as Swine flu now ravaging as stated in the article “India In just 3 months, swine flu deaths surpass worst annual toll”, published March 26, 2015 by Chaitanya Mallapurm, Business Standard infecting some 32,663 people in India and killing 1,947 since the start of 2015.

Another Chicken and Egg Shortage like last year in from January 2014? I’ll explain the details!

Ministry of Agriculture bans US and Canadian Chicken Products – Anything Chicken incinerated against Avian Flu

Somehow I fail to see the significance of this; I’ve stopped eating Chicken a long time ago now that I’m doing my Professional Diploma in Teaching at the MICO University College as evidenced from my blog article entitled “Cooking Restart at MICO - How to Cook a Meal in under 30 minutes and make Drinks with Bag Juice”.

But the meat eaters are concerned, so my article is really obligatory, not to mention whetting the appétite of my readers for a little local action on my blog.  

According to the article “Jamaica Bans Poultry Imports From Parts Of US, Canada”, Published Friday March 20, 2015 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner, the Ministry of Agriculture is banning the following Chicken related products:

1.      By-products not fully cooked

2.      Feathers

3.      Hatching eggs

4.      Live birds

5.      Offal i.e. internal organs including entrails from within the Chickens

6.      Poultry

7.      Poultry products whether raw, chilled, fresh or frozen

8.      Powdered Egg yolks and Egg whites

9.      Raw pet foods containing Poultry

The Specific areas from the US of A and Canada where the products are being banned are as follows:

1.      Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in the USA

2.      British Columbia in Canada

This is clearly very serious; the Ministry of Agriculture, possibly with assistance from the Public Health Department from the Ministry of Health, has already made plans to incinerate any Poultry and Poultry products (aka Chicken) coming from the USA and Canada as noted in “Brace For Chicken Shortage Amid Ban On Some Imports – Producers”, Published Friday March 20, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This has prompted Poultry producers to warn Jamaican consumers of the possibility of a Chicken Shortage.

Shadows of the Chicken Back Shortage of 2014 - Egg and Chicken Shortage during Easter

This coming Chicken Shortage is very similar to the Chicken Back Shortage of August 2014 which saw Jamaican putting Crocodiles and even mongoose on the menu to satisfy our lust for meat as reported in my blog article entitled “Jamaicans now Eating Sly Mongoose as Chicken Back shortage Gets closer to Christmas - Family and Community Gardens needed to Grow what we Eat and reduce Food Import Bill”.

They've also activated a National Emergency Animal Disease Committee to get themselves ready to handle any possible outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu among the Animal population. This committee involves:

1.      Ministry of Health

2.      Jamaica Customs Agency

3.      Poultry Industry Producers

They also plan to reach out to small-scale Poultry operators, Egg farmers, pet bird owners and pet stores, basically anyone who wants to import live Chickens and eggs for breeding purposes to make sure they achieve compliance.

After all, we're STILL experiencing an Egg Shortage since January 2014 that has basically lasted all of that year due to increasing demand as a Meat replacement and declining supply from local Egg Farmers as explained in my blog article entitled “Egg Shortage in Jamaica set to continue to March 2014 - Poor Agricultural Planning to blame as Cheap Meat shortages forcing many to become Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians”.

But if this is as bad as it sounds, we may also be looking at an increase in baked goods that use eggs, such as Cakes, Puddings and Easter Bun, a staple during Easter and further on into the year! Chicken we can live without, as other forms of meat exist; Eggs will be sorta tough to replace!

These measures mean that major players in the Poultry Industry cannot import powdered eggs albeit they can switch to powdered Egg Substitutes like Hampton Creek Foods Egg Replacement made from blended organic plant proteins and spices as explained in my blog article entitled “CPJ's Liquid Eggs Limited Jamaican Egg Shortage - How Imported Eggs from Hampton Creek Foods may alleviate Egg Shortage in December 2014”.

So Easter Eggs with your Festival and Fry fish? You may have to skip Eggs and Chicken. Then again, it’s the Season of Lent; you can do without it. It’s after Easter that the meat eaters in Jamaica have to worry about!