Bulgaria announced Tuesday to impose a ban on live birds and nearly all poultry products from Macedonia, which confirmed a "Newcastle Disease" there and was investigating a possible outbreak of the lethal H5N1 bird flu virus.

Under a decree signed by Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil, Bulgaria suspended imports of all live birds, eggs and poultry meat, except poultry-related products that are proven to be virus-free.

The ban will be implemented by the National Veterinary Service.

Bulgaria, so far free of bird flu cases, has announced the ban on imports of all poultry products from Romania, Turkey and Greece, and ordered close observation of possibly infected humans.

The Bulgarian government established a bird flu crisis control command to coordinate the nation's prevention of the epidemic. By now, no bird flu case has been detected in Bulgaria, according to the reports by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Source: Xinhua