U. S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly nine pounds of banned “bushmeat” from a passenger who arrived on a flight from Ghana at Newark Liberty International Airport, officials said Tuesday.

The passenger, identified as a United States citizen, declared the meat to CBP agriculture specialists Sunday, the agency said. Bushmeat is a term for a range of wild animals, including primates, bats, civets and African rodents. The meat is often “raw or minimally processed,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials from the CDC advised CBP to destroy the meat, which can spread human diseases.

“CBP Agriculture Specialists made critical interceptions of these prohibited animal products and stopped them from entering the United States before they could potentially cause grave damage to our agricultural and economic vitality,” Troy Miller, CBP director of field operations at the New York Field Office, said in a statement.

The traveler was not fined because the person declared the meat, a CBP spokesman said. It was not immediately clear what animal the intercepted meat came from.

According to the CDC, bushmeat is illegal to bring into the United States and has been linked to diseases, including Ebola.

“Animal disease outbreaks are a threat to the United States that can adversely affect public health, cause global trade halts, and destabilize the economy and our nation’s food supply,” CBP said.