# 973
An extraordinarily quiet news morning. If anything is happening, it isn't being reported. Most of the stories on the wire services today are rehashing information from the past two days.
SAfrica bans German poultry imports over bird flu fears
OHANNESBURG (AFP) - South Africa has banned the import of poultry products from Germany after an outbreak of a potentially fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu, an official statement said on Thursday.
Following the outbreak of the virus, "South Africa immediately placed an embargo on the importation of all live poultry, birds, meat and other products derived from poultry and birds from Germany until further notice," the statement from the agriculture ministry said.
However, poultry products examined, found to have complied with international standards and free of bird flu are exempted from the suspension, it said.
Since 2005, all commercial and non-commercial chickens and ostriches are regularly tested in South Africa, which remains free of the flu, said the statement.
After it was first reported in a farm in Thueringen, the H5N1 bird flu virus has spread to other poultry in Germany after killing dozens of wild birds, according to authorities in Germany.
