According to the recent news, meat and poultry from Spain has been banned temporarily in Qatar, following the detection of a new strain of bird flu virus-H7N7- in the country.

The decision was taken by the Joint Committee for Food Inspection in a meeting that took place in the premises of the Supreme Council of Health.

The immediate ban was imposed on all meat and poultry products from Spain, including fresh and frozen as well as eggs. H7N7 is a subtype of H1N1 and can infect humans, birds, pigs, seals and horses in the wild and has infected mice in laboratory studies.

The existence of virus was found in the Netherlands and the UK in 2003, 2006 and 2008 and most recently in a farm in Almoguera, Guadalajara, Spain last October. Meanwhile, some nations have already imposed ban on imports of meat and poultry from Spain.

Moreover, the ban would not affect the local market of Spain as it is not a major exporter of poultry to Qatar. Most of the imported poultry products in Qatar comes from Brazil, France, United States and some GCC nations and meat is imported from nations like India, Sudan, Syria, Australia and Pakistan.