Guyana temporarily bans eggs and chicks from Georgia

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA - The South American country of Guyana has temporarly banned imports of chicken eggs and chicks from Georgia and California. <br> <br> The move is intended to prevent an infectious poultry disease -- known as Exotic Newcastle -- from spreading to the country. <br> <br> Guyana&#39;s poultry association acknowledges the disease has not appeared in Georgia, but says the government wanted the assurance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture before lifting the ban. <br> <br> Georgia agriculture officials say they had not heard that the ban applied to their state. <br> <br> Guyana buys most of its chicks from Georgia and not from southern California, where the disease has prompted a region-wide quarantine. <br> <br> Exotic Newcastle, one of the most infectious poultry diseases in the world, is harmless to humans but fatal to birds. USDA officials have ordered more than a million chickens destroyed after finding new cases of the disease.