Ukraine bans British poultry imports

Ukraine has banned imports of poultry products from Britain after an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on a farm owned by Europe’s largest turkey producer, officials said today.

The ban applies to deliveries of live birds, eggs and bird meat as well as any poultry products, said Anatoliy Osadchiy, a spokesman for the veterinary department of Ukraine’s Agricultural Ministry.

The ban came after about 2,500 turkeys died of the virus on a farm owned by Bernard Matthews in Suffolk.