The Swiss Federal Veterinarian’s Office has placed a ban on the importation of feathers and live birds coming from Turkey. Marcel Falk, OVF spokesman, explained on Tuesday that the restriction would also apply to many of Turkey’s neighboring countries such as Armenia, Syria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Iraq. The measure comes in wake of a series of fatal cases of the H5N1 bird flu virus that were discovered in Turkey. Falk says that in the case of Switzerland the ban is preventive, because as it stands now, the Swiss market does not import feathers from those countries.

<< Geneva News Archive