Ukraine Lifts Ban on Poultry Imports From Greece

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine has lifted a ban on imports of poultry and derivatives from Greece after tests for a deadly flu on birds from the country turned up negative.

Greek health official carries a dead turkey outside a bird flu-infected farm in Oinouses
Ukraine banned all imports of poultry from Greece on October 18, after reports of a possible deadly bird flu strain in the eastern Aegean Sea region.

But on Saturday, the Greek agriculture ministry said that tests for the deadly H5N1 virus had proved negative.

"The European Commission laboratory at Weybridge, Britain, announced today that tests on samples taken from the suspect bird flock on (the eastern Aegean islet of) Oinousses have not located the H5N1 avian flu strain," the ministry said in a statement.

The bird flu virus has not yet been detected in Ukraine, but the country also recently banned imports of poultry products and poultry derivatives from countries where the virus has been found, notably Croatia, Romania and Turkey, as well as several regions of Russia.

The Ukrainian parliament two weeks ago passed a six-month ban on all poultry imports, but the measure has not yet been signed into force by President Viktor Yushchenko.

Source: AFP