February 2, 2007

Ukraine halts southern Russian poultry imports on bird flu

Ukraine has suspended imports of poultry from the southern Russian region of Krasnodar due to suspected bird flu, the Agriculture Ministry said Thursday (Feb 1).

An outbreak of bird flu has been registered in Krasnodar, the Russian federal agricultural oversight agency, Rosselkhoznadzor, said Monday. But it remains unclear what strain of the virus is involved.

The Ukrainian ministry said the ban, applying to deliveries of live birds, eggs and bird meat as well as any poultry products, would last until final results of tests on the virus in the Krasnodar region are received.

Last week Ukraine banned imports of Hungarian poultry after the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected there.