"I am issuing an official statement that there is no need to ban Novosibirsk's poultry products. Adequate measures are being taken in the infected areas. I promise that I will be the first to announce a ban on Novosibirsk poultry," said Gennady Onishchenko.
He also said the information about the regions where such a ban had been introduced would be carefully checked.
"I will request a document to that effect, as the information about the ban in the Altai region (southeast of Western Siberia) has not been confirmed," said Onishchenko.
He said the authorities of the Novosibirsk region had made no decisions of the kind. The situation in Kemerovo (south of Western Siberia) could turn out to be the same.
Cases of the bird flu virus have been registered in the Novosibirsk, Omsk, Altai, and Tyumen regions of Western Siberia.
