MOSCOW, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Russia is banning British poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu, the country's animal and plant health regulator said Monday.
The ban, set to go into effect Tuesday, will apply to live birds, hatching eggs, poultry meat and all poultry products not subjected to thermal treatment, as well as poultry feed and equipment for keeping and slaughtering birds, the Russian Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision Service said.
Britain has culled and gassed tens of thousands of turkeys in an effort to contain Europe's largest outbreak of H5N1 avian virus on a commercial poultry farm, The Financial Times reported.
The Dutch agriculture ministry said it had ordered farmers to keep commercial poultry indoors to prevent possible flu spread "because the outbreak is quite close to the Netherlands." France said it was ready to boost measures to halt the disease.
Authorities set up a "biosecurity zone" around the Holton, England, farm where the outbreak was discovered to keep the deadly virus from spreading. The outbreak, the first affecting British poultry, follows a similar infection among geese in Hungary two weeks ago.
