The Veterinary and Livestock Department of the Ministry of Agriculture is reminding carnival enthusiasts that they need approval from the Department before feathers are allowed in-country. This approach, the Department says, is to preserve the health of poultry and livestock in Saint Lucia.
George says Bands have always sought approval from the Ministry before attempting to import feathers. As the health concerns increase, he says the practice is not likely to change.
“It is customary that any carnival band who orders feathers would of course have to seek a permit from the Ministry of Agriculture and the vet department before any form of feather comes in,” he explained.
George says many Bands opt for the importation of synthetic feathers as opposed to authentic ones. The synthetic ones are not from birds, but are instead made using plastics and other materials.
“But still, the issue that we find is that we still find that there is issue with the feathers coming in because now there's something called synthetic feathers, which means it is not actual feathers from birds,” he explained.
However, he notes, upon entry to Saint Lucia, customs officials have difficulty telling the difference between synthetic and authentic feathers.
“The difficult that we have is that one cannot determine whether it is the two kinds of feathers, which is synthetic feathers or real feathers. So sometimes that could be a tedious process.”
He says continued discussion with the Bands will continue to ensure the protection of animal life in Saint Lucia.
“I wish we could go a little step foot and have a dialogue with the carnival bands as well so we can give them some more knowledge as to where the feathers come from and how we can make it seamless. Then, we have no issues in jeopardizing the health and safety of our country for any kind of bird flu but at the same time we can still import in a safely manner.”
Since 2023, the Americas recorded an increase in Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) diagnoses in birds and domestic poultry. Three human infections caused by avian influenza A(H5N1) have been reported: the first in the United States of America, reported on 29 April 2022, the second in Ecuador, which was notified on 9 January 2023, and the third in Chile, which was notified on 29 March 2023.