U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists intercepted a monkey carcass and prohibited ruminant meat on April 11 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
The monkey remains discovered during an X-ray examination of a Cameroon traveler’s baggage is a major concern for human health, but the ruminant meat is strictly prohibited for the safety of U.S. animal agriculture.
“A subsequent traveler from Liberia tried to deceptively sneak in prohibited ruminant meat,” CBP reports. “CBP agriculture specialists inspected eight boxes within the traveler’s baggage and discovered meat, bones and hair concealed in dried seafood. The traveler admitted that the concealed meat was beef. Seafood is generally admissible, but ruminant meat from certain parts of the world is prohibited due to the presence of disease, such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).”
In total, CBP agriculture specialists seized a total of 125 pounds of prohibited ruminant meat, one pound of prohibited fresh leaves, and four types of prohibited seeds for planting from the Liberian traveler’s baggage.
“CBP’s agriculture specialists mitigate the threat of non-native plants and pests, plant and animal diseases, and other potentially contaminants entering the United States,” Chicago Field Office’s Acting Director of Field Operations Michael Pfeiffer, said in a release. “The sheer volume of prohibited items our specialists intercept daily demonstrates how they play an essential and critical role in preventing plant and animal diseases from entering the United States.”
With outbreaks of FMD and other foreign animal diseases on the rise in regions of the world, it’s critical to protect U.S. borders by getting prohibited products out of the country. Earlier this week, South Africa announced that its government received 2 million doses of FMD vaccine from Turkey in light of South Africa’s worst FMD outbreak in years.
Travelers who wish to import plant materials, animal materials and other agricultural items should visit Bringing Agricultural Products into the United States.
