The government on Friday banned the import of poultry from European countries over growing fears that the deadly bird flu that has caused panic across East Asia and some other parts of the world could enter here.

“Import of poultry from European Union countries is banned to guard against the outbreak of bird flu,” Dr Dhana Raj Ratala, director of the Animal Health Directorate said. He informed that poultry imports from the neighboring India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would also be monitored as a precaution against bird flu.

Import from these countries will continue, however. According to Ratala, the government has alerted quarantine check points along the borders with India and China in a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus into Nepal.

Nepal imports nearly half a million live birds for breeding each year out of which 10 percent import is from European nations, mostly from United Kingdom and Germany.

There has been no reported case of bird flu in Nepal but the spread of the virus to Europe from Asia has put the authorities on ‘red alert’.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 68 people have died of bird flu until recently. Among them, 6 deaths were reported in Indonesia, 43 in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and 4 in Cambodia.