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Azerbaijan bans poultry imports from Turkey amid bird flu fears

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BAKU, February 9 (RIA Novosti) - Azerbaijan's state veterinary service Friday banned imports of poultry products from Turkey following an official announcement of a bird flu epidemic in one of Turkey's provinces.

Under international law, poultry imports are prohibited from countries where H5N1 virus is registered.

According to official reports, no humans have yet been infected with bird flu in Azerbaijan.

On Wednesday, Azerbaijan banned poultry imports from Russia.

Russia's agricultural watchdog said in late January that deaths of domestic fowl had been registered at three farmsteads in two regions of the Krasnodar Territory in the south of the country.

Lab tests revealed the presence of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus. However, Russia's chief health official, Gennady Onishchenko, brushed aside fears that the outbreak could pose a threat to people.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has claimed dozens of human lives since it first appeared in Asia in 2003. It has since spread worldwide, and scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form transmissible between humans, sparking a global pandemic.

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