Moldovan food safety agency bans import of fowl from Ukrainian region because of bird flu

Chisinau, 25 January /MOLDPRES/ - The National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) on 24 January informed that it was temporarily restricting the import of domestic birds, birds kept in captivity and other birds, as well as the products coming from them from the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine. The decision comes as a result of the appearance of a hotbed of highly pathogenic bird flu (type A, subtype H5) in this zone of the neighbour country.   

According to ANSA, based on an order by the institution on the enforcement of special protection measures against the introduction and spread of the bird flu in Moldova, starting from 24 January, the aforementioned goods coming from the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine will not be allowed for import.   

Thus, economic agents importers will submit an application on the intention of importing the concerned goods not later than five working days to the ANSA single office (ghiseu@ansa.gov.md), in order to analyze the epizootic situation.   

Also, enhanced supervision measures will be applied, in order not to allow the spread of the bird flu in Moldova.

The bird flu is a type of flu hitting mainly birds; but it can also affect species of mammals. This disease was first time identified in Italy in 1900, but was found all over the world later on. A virus of the bird flu, H5N1, was identified in Asia in 1997 and triggered panic in the entire world, and they were speaking about the imminence of a large-scale epidemic. In October 2005, the H5N1 virus reached  also Romania and was identified in birds in the settlement Ceamurlia de Jos, Tulcea county. Romania was the first European country where the presence of this virus was officially confirmed.    

The symptoms of bird flu in man are relatively specific: high fever, cough, neck ache, muscle pain, conjunctivitis; in serious cases – pneumonia with acute respiratory insufficiency.