Ukraine bans poultry imports from UK, the Netherlands and Germany over bird flu

Ukraine has imposed a ban on all live birds and bird product imports from the UK, the Netherlands an…

Ukraine has imposed a ban on all live birds and bird product imports from the UK, the Netherlands and Germany over bird flu outbreak.

The ban will continue until the international watchdog ensures that these countries are free from bird flu, Reuters reported.

Ukraine, however, imports a relatively small volume of birds and poultry from these countries annually.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that bird flu viruses may cause sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases, especially in people exposed to infected birds or contaminated environments.

As per the data given by WHO, nearly 668 laboratory-confirmed human cases of bird flu infection were reported from 16 countries during 2003-2014.

Dutch authorities informed about an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5 in an indoor flock of 150, 000 laying hens on 15 November.

On 16 November, the UK authorities have also informed an outbreak of HPAI H5 on an indoor duck breeder farm which is probably similar to the H5N8 HPAI virus found in the Netherlands and in Germany.