EU says no need to order poultry indoors over bird flu
Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou today told the European Parliament the EU was keeping a close eye on an outbreak of bird flu in Russia, reiterating there was still no need for an EU-wide order to farms to keep poultry indoors.
He also said the EU was considering calling a donors conference to bring together European and Asian governments and international public health organisations to rally funding to combat the disease that has killed scores of people in Asia.
Addressing the European Parliament’s public health committee, Kyrprianou said a ban on keeping farm poultry outdoors in Europe “was not appropriate at this time”.
The EU has imposed a ban on poultry imports from Russia and Asian nations affected by an outbreak of bird flu.
Migratory wild birds are blamed for spreading the H5N1 flu strain from Asia to Russia and officials there have warned the birds could carry the virus to Europe and North America next spring.
