TIRANA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Albania's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday took measures to prevent the spread of bird flu into the country.
The ministry issued a special order banning imports of live poultry and poultry products from some European countries including Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Sweden.
Live poultry, 24-hour birds, decorative birds, biological material from birds, poultry eggs, poultry meat not thermally treated, and non-thermally treated poultry by-products from these nations will be temporarily banned from entering or transiting through Albania.
The ministry took similar measures to protect against the disease of bluetongue.
Outbreaks of bird flu began in Albania two years ago, causing the most damage to the poultry breeding and egg production sectors.
