This follows reports that the US meat company has begun culling some 15,000 chickens suspected of bird flu.
The Singapore Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is monitoring the import of Tyson chicken products following reports that the US meat company has begun culling some 15,000 chickens that had been exposed to a strain of the avian flu in northwest Arkansas.
An AVA spokesman said on Wednesday that Singapore imported 289 tonnes of Tyson chicken products.
'We are monitoring the situation and are in close contact with our counterparts. Only chicken that are safe to eat and free from birdflu are allowed to be imported into Singapore,' said the spokesman.
He added that AVA ensures a resilient supply of safe and wholesome food by enforcing stringent food safety regulations and standards that are consistent with international practices.
Officials of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission said routine blood tests conducted last Friday found the possible exposure of the chickens to the H7N3 strain of virus.
Further tests done by the state and the US Department of Agriculture found the birds did not have active infections, but rather were exposed to a subtype of the disease. The company immediately began disposing of the birds.
'There is absolutely no human health threat,' said Jon Fitch, director of the commission. 'But we take this very seriously.'
Mr Fitch said state officials decided against announcing the infection to the general public as the birds tested positive for exposure to the H7N3 strain of the virus.
The strain that ravaged Asian poultry stocks in late 2003 was H5N1 bird flu virus. That version of the virus has killed 240 people worldwide and scientists worry it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said an 2004 outbreak of H7N3 at a poultry plant in British Columbia, Canada, did sicken two workers there. The CDC said the two workers recovered after treatment with the antiviral medication.
Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for Springdale-based Tyson said, 'As a preventive measure, Tyson is also stepping up its surveillance of avian influenza in the area.'
The 15,000 hens will be killed by carbon-dioxide gas and buried at the farm to avoid spreading the disease, Mr Fitch said.
So far, he said officials have a working theory about how the virus spread to the hens.
'The speculation at this point in time was that a large group of Canadian geese made home on a pond very near this facility,' Mr Fitch said.
'Our speculation is someone stepped into some of those droppings and carried it into the poultry house.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on June 4, 2008.