Bulgaria suspended on Wednesday the import of live birds and nearly all poultry products from Ukraine where an outbreak of the fatal avian flu had been confirmed.

Under a decree signed by Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil, the country banned the imports of all live birds, eggs and poultry meat, except poultry-related products that are thermic- treated and are guaranteed to be virus-free.

The ban, which forbides the transit of related goods across Bulgaria as well, will be carried out by the National Veterinary Service.

Bulgaria, so far free of bird flu cases, has announced a ban on imports of all poultry products from Romania, Turkey, Macedonia and Croatia, 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 latest reports of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Source: Xinhua