#19,046
Last week, in Taiwan: Another Avian Flu `Incident', we looked at the latest in a series (see here, here, and here) of high profile illegal (avian or swine) vaccine smuggling and/or manufacturing operations detected by Taiwanese officials.
Counterfeit vaccines are particularly worrying, since they may exacerbate existing epizootic threats, but they are far from the only imported zoonotic threats.
There is a huge global trade in both illegal bushmeat, and in smuggled wildlife, both of which can transport infectious diseases into new regions of the world. Just yesterday Hong Kong Customs reported their seizure of more than 100 wild birds at one of their border crossing points with the Mainland.
Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected illegally imported live birds (with photo)
Hong Kong Customs today (February 7) detected a suspected case of illegal importing of live bird at the Lo Wu Control Point. 112 live birds with an estimated market value of about $15,000 were seized.
Customs officers today intercepted an incoming 26-year-old female passenger at the arrival hall of the said control point. Upon examination, 112 live birds contained in bird cages were seized from the trolley she carried, and she was subsequently arrested.
The case was handed over to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for follow-up investigation.
Under the Public Health (Animals and Birds) Regulations, it is an offence to import any bird unless it is accompanied by a valid health certificate. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $25,000.
Members of the public may report any suspected activities of illegal import of live birds to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).
Ends/Saturday, February 7, 2026
The most obvious concern is of accidentally importing avian flu, which has happened before:
Vienna: 5 Smuggled Birds Now Reported Positive For H5N1
But avian flu isn't the only concern, as we've seen literally dozens of reports over the years of `parrot fever' (see China: Media Reports Of A Psittacosis Outbreak (Parrot Fever) in Zhejiang Province) outbreaks in Asia and in Europe.
The United States famously saw a national panic over `Parrot Fever' in 1929 (see How Parrot Fever Changed Public Health In America), with many fearing a return of the 1918 pandemic.
We've seen horrific examples of the lengths that some people will go to in order to illegally import live birds, including in 2010, when two men were indicted for attempting to smuggle dozens of song birds (strapped to their legs inside their pants) into LAX from Vietnam.
Sadly, many of the birds did not survive the plane trip.
Last December Interpol reported on their enforcement efforts in 2025, reporting:
30,000 live animals seized in global operation against wildlife and forestry crime
11 December 2025
134 participating countries make record seizures of protected plants, animals and timber
LYON, France — A global operation against the illegal trafficking of wild fauna and flora has led to the seizure of nearly 30,000 live animals and the identification of 1,100 suspects.
From 15 September – 15 October, law enforcement agencies comprising police, customs, border security and forestry and wildlife authorities from 134 countries made a total of 4,640 seizures during Operation Thunder 2025. This record number of seizures included tens of thousands of protected animals and plants and tens of thousands of cubic metres of illegally logged timber, as well as more than 30 tonnes of species classified as endangered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO), with the support of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), the operation sought to intercept and seize illegally traded wildlife and forestry commodities across the global supply chain and identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in these types of environmental crime.
(SNIP)
While live animal seizures reached a record high this year — driven largely by demand for exotic pets — most wildlife trafficking involved animal remains, parts and derivatives, often used in traditional medicine or specialty foods.
Estimates put the annual value of wildlife crime at USD 20 billion, but the clandestine nature of the trade suggests that the real figure is likely much higher.
The full report is very much worth reading in its entirety (but warning, some of the photos are hard to look at . . ).
In the summer of 2010 headlines were made when a study – published in the journal Conservation Letters looked at the amount of smuggled bushmeat (est. 5 tons a week) that was coming into Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport over a 17 day period on flights from west and central Africa.Not all cases of smuggling are part of elaborate criminal conspiracies, sometimes it's just a traveler trying to bring a bit of `home' back to the United States.
In May of 2013, in All Too Frequent Flyers, we saw a Vietnamese passenger, on a flight into Dulles Airport, who was caught with 20 raw Chinese Silkie Chickens in his luggage.
But in some cases, illegal imports are being done on a commercial scale, as evidenced by the next two reports which came during the height of China's ASF epidemic.
An infamous example of the potential zoonotic risks, in 2003 the United States experienced a multi-state (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin) outbreak of Monkeypox when a Texas animal distributor (legally) imported hundreds of small animals from Ghana, which in turn infected prairie dogs that were subsequently sold to the public (see MMWR Update On Monkeypox 2003).
By the time that outbreak was quashed, the U.S. saw 37 confirmed, 12 probable, and 22 suspected human cases. Among the confirmed cases 5 were categorized as being severely ill, while 9 were hospitalized for > 48 hrs; although no patients died (cite).
At roughly the same time the United States was dealing with Monkeypox, Asia, Canada, and the rest of the world were dealing with another zoonotic threat; the first SARS-CoV outbreak (see SARS and Remembrance).
That outbreak was linked to the practice of serving exotic animals - including masked palm civets (and possibly raccoon dogs) - in `wild flavor' restaurants (see A Hong Kong Civets Lesson).
China and the United States (along with many other countries) have since tightened up their laws and regulations regarding the importation, or consumption, of many of these exotic animals, but the evidence suggests that better laws haven't proven to be an effective deterrent.
All reasons while increased vigilance is needed if we are to prevent the next global (human or agricultural) infectious disease crisis.
