"An outbreak of the highly contagious avian influenza has occurred in Hungary, and as of today we are introducing a temporary ban on imports to Russia of live poultry, hatching eggs, poultry meat, and all poultry products which have not been thermally treated," press secretary Alexei Alexeyenko told RIA Novosti.
The deadly strain of bird flu, H5N1, has claimed dozens of human lives since it first appeared in Asia in 2003, and it has since spread worldwide. Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form transmissible between humans, sparking a global pandemic.
In 2006, an epidemic of the deadly virus broke out in five Siberian and 11 southern regions, resulting in the deaths and culling of about 1.5 million birds. No human fatalities have been reported in Russia so far.
