December 10, 2007

Poland sees EU to extend ban after new bird flu case

Poland expects the EU to extend its import ban on poultry and eggs after a fresh outbreak of bird flu was discovered on Saturday.

Ewa Lech, Poland's chief veterinary officer, said they have informed the European Commission of the areas from which meat and eggs cannot be exported. Lech estimates that the ban will be extended by another two weeks.

Pawel Jakubczak, provincial veterinary officer, announced that the cull of some 110,000 birds began on Sunday.

There were 52 industrial-scale poultry farms and 232 smaller family-owned holdings within the danger zone, Jakubczak added.

The latest outbreak of bird flu has been diagnosed in 11 villages of central Poland's Zuromin district (county), one of Poland's principal poultry-raising areas. It is situated some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from three bird flu sites discovered around the city of Plock earlier this month.

EU was expected to lift the ban of poultry from the Plock area on January if no more infected birds were detected.

One of the EU's biggest poultry producers, Poland exported 230,000 tonnes of poultry to European markets last year.