Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

Guam ban on Chuuk foodstuff lifted

POHNPEI, Palikir (FSM Information Service): July 2000 – Guam has lifted its ban on seafood, seafood products, and processed food originating from Chuuk State, according to a letter from Dennis G. Rodriquez, director of Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services.

In his letter to FSM Secretary of Health, Education, and Social Affairs Dr. Eliuel Pretrick, Rodriquez said he would direct his staff, today, to begin notifying the appropriate regulatory agencies and media of the removal of the importation restrictions.

The ban’s lifting comes upon Guam receiving assurances from Dr. Pretrick that Chuuk State will follow four guidelines. They are

  1. If, in the future, there should be clinical or laboratory evidence of a cholera outbreak in Chuuk State, the Guam Epidemiologist and Rodriquez will be notified within one week.

  2. Patients seen in the Chuuk State Hospital complaining of persistent or severe diarrhea will routinely be tested for Vibrio infection as well as for the more common enteric pathogens.

  3. The harvesting of reef fish (or other seafood products) for export to Guam will not be permitted in waters known to be polluted.

  4. Chuuk State quarantine offices will be vigilant in preventing fish caught in other areas but transshipped through Chuuk from receiving documents suggesting that they originated in Chuuk State.

Dr. Pretrick in a letter to Rodriquez, dated July 14, concurred with the guidelines.