EU extends Romania poultry ban to entire country

BRUSSELS, Jun 2 (Reuters) The European Union has extended its import ban on live poultry and poultry meat products from Romania to the whole country due to the rapid spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the European Commission today said.

''The (Commission's) proposal was put forward on the basis that the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has been spreading rapidly in Romania since avian influenza began re-occurring in the country in mid-May,'' the EU executive said in a statement.

The import ban, which widens previous restrictions in force on most counties to all of Romania, would be reviewed by national animal health experts representing the EU-25 at a meeting in July, the statement said.

REUTERS DKS PC1831