Baku, Sept 12
Azerbaijan has imposed restrictions on the import of food products from 85 countries following newly detected outbreaks of several transboundary animal diseases, the Food Safety Agency (AQTA) said.
Galib Abdulaliyev, AQTA department head and the country’s chief state veterinary inspector, said to Oxu.Az, that recent weeks have seen fresh cases of bluetongue, foot-and-mouth disease, small ruminant pox, and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Reported locations include:
Foot-and-mouth: Dornod Province, Mongolia
Bluetongue: multiple regions of Slovenia (South-East, Central, Lower Sava/Posavje, Zasavje) and Bulgaria (Sofia, Gabrovo)
Small ruminant pox: Epirus and Western Macedonia (Greece), Tripoli District (Libya)
HPAI (bird flu): Santarém (Portugal), Andalusia (Spain), Nordland (Norway)
The agency did not specify how long the measures will remain in place. According to official data cited by AQTA, the curbs are intended to safeguard public and animal health while international epidemiological risks persist.
