The European Union (EU) is to announce later Thursday its decision on whether to ban all pet birds and feathers from Russia's Siberia after deadly avian flu virus was confirmed in the country, a European Commission (EC) spokesperson said Thursday.

Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told a regular mid-day news briefing that once adopted, the ban could be expected to last six months.

The move follows Moscow's confirmation on Wednesday of the discovery of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus about 200 km south of Moscow in the Tula region, next to a lake with numerous wild ducks.

The H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003 and forced the slaughter of thousands of birds, has also been discovered in Turkey and Romania.

Russia has been fighting bird flu since mid-July and has killed over 600,000 domestic fowl.

Hansen also said that a first test of a separate Greek sample had found no bird flu but further tests were needed.

Source: Xinhua