SINGAPORE, Aug.7 (Xinhuanet) -- Singapore on Saturday suspended the import of poultry meat and birds from South Africa following reports of an Avian Influenza outbreak in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province.

    Announcing this in a statement, Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said that the move is to prevent the disease from entering the island state, which is now free from bird flu.

    Last year, Singapore imported three tons of frozen ostrich meat from South Africa, and it imported about 3,500 ornamental birds inthe first seven months of this year.

    Last Tuesday, the AVA banned the import of ducks from a farm in Malaysia's Perak state after finding an infection suspected to be avian flu in a consignment of ducks, but it was later found that the avian flu virus found in the ducks was not the same strain that is responsible for the current outbreak of bird flu in Asia. Enditem