October 24, 2005

Bird flu fears cuts Serbia's poultry meat prices
 

Fears of bird flu have brought down prices of poultry meat by about 20 percent across Serbia, producers said Friday.

Sales of poultry meat plummeted in the Balkan republic after the H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed in neighbouring Romania last week.

The price for a kilogram of fresh chicken meat decreased from 196 dinars (about EUR2.30; US$2.80) to 154 dinars (EUR1.80; US$2.20), the Serbian poultry producers association said, voicing hopes that bird flu fears would abate and sales resume.

On Thursday, Serbia ordered all domestic birds and pigs be kept indoors, and banned the sale of live birds to minimize the risk of bird flu spreading in Europe.

A ban on hunting migratory birds was already in place.