WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials found and seized potentially harmful bat meat from a Maryland traveler at Washington Dulles International Airport.
On April 5, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists found three pounds, eight ounces of charred bat meat in the baggage of a Germantown, Md., man who arrived from Ghana.
According to the CBP, bat is considered bushmeat and is a routine protein staple in Africa. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bushmeat is illegal to import [cdc.gov] to the United States and bats are known vector species for zoonotic diseases [cdc.gov], such as Ebola.
CBP seized the bat meat and turned it over to CDC for further examination.
Additionally, CBP agriculture specialists discovered a combined 12 pounds of tetraplura, eggplants, and turkey berries in the man’s baggage. CBP seized and destroyed the prohibited fruit.
CBP seized and destroyed the fruit products and released the traveler.
“Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists play a very challenging frontline role in protecting the public, our nation’s agricultural industries, and our economic vitality every day against the deliberate or accidental introduction of potentially crippling animal diseases that may be carried in passenger baggage,” said Daniel Escobedo, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C. “CBP strongly encourages all international travelers to know what they can and cannot pack in their baggage before visiting the United States.”
