We are not considering a ban on poultry meat imports from Croatia at the moment, because the disease has appeared among wild fowl and not among commercially or home bred poultry, spokesman Jonathan Todd said at a press conference in Brussels.
We have been notified by the Croatian government about its decision to ban exports of live poultry, birds, pets and feathers, and about the measures that have been taken in the area where the dead birds were found, he said.
Last week, an H5 avian influenza virus was isolated from organs of six out of 12 swans found dead at the Grudnjak fish pond in the municipality of Zdenci, about 200 kilometres east of Zagreb. Tissue samples were sent to the EU avian influenza reference laboratory at Weybridge, Great Britain, for further testing.
We welcome the steps by the Croatian authorities and are expecting results from Weybridge over the next few days, Todd said.
The spokesman added that the European Commission was preparing a decision to ban imports of live poultry, birds, pets and feathers from Croatia, which will probably be announced later in the day.