Russia bans importation of live birds, incubated eggs from U.S.

Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has banned the importation of live birds and incubated eggs from the U.S. over concerns about avian flu effective from May 26.

At present the world is facing a tense epizootic situation in regard to high-pathogenic avian influenza, a disease that is particularly widespread in the U.S., Rosselkhoznadzor said.

Over 157 instances of avian flu (H5N1, H5N2 and H5N8) have been registered in 17 U.S. states (Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana, Wyoming and Tennessee), the press release says, citing data from the World Organization for Animal Health.

The illness is quickly spreading from wild bird populations to farm birds, Rosselkhoznadzor said. The number of infected birds has reached 40.7 million and continues rising.

In addition, the H5N1 strain is a pathogen for humans, which to a significant degree aggravates the situation surrounding the spread of the virus.

"Rosselkhoznadzor expresses alarm over the scale of the spread of bird flu in the U.S.," the press release says. "At the same time, Rosselkhoznadzor notes that the U.S. has imposed stringent requirements to ensure biological security for farms to produce specified pathogen free eggs, operating on the compartmentalization principle.

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