June 5, 2006

EU broadens Romanian poultry ban to cover entire country

European Union veterinary experts Friday (Jun 2) agreed to extend an EU ban on Romanian live poultry and poultry products to cover the entire country, as more outbreaks of the disease have been confirmed there in recent weeks.

Previous EU restrictions applied only to certain regions in Romania. The expanded ban will come into effect immediately, officials said.

"The proposal was put forward on the basis that the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has been spreading rapidly in Romania," since bird flu cases began recurring there in mid-May, a European Commission statement said.

EU experts undertook an extensive overview of the bird flu situation in Romania and measures taken to date to try to contain it, the commission said.

It said despite stringent controls imposed by Romanian authorities in all 42 administrative counties in the country, "outbreaks are still being detected".

Romania, which reported its first cases of the deadly H5N1 strain in October, saw the virus subside and then reappear in May in farm birds in dozens of villages.

More than 20 people, including the owners of farms and a veterinarian, are under investigation by Romanian authorities for allegedly contributing to the spread of the disease. The farm owners are suspected of selling poultry meat from their farms, despite knowing birds had been infected.

The EU's expanded ban was to be reviewed in July.