Poland's veterinary service has culled 4,200 turkeys following an outbreak of deadly H5N1 bird flu on two poultry farms northwest of Warsaw, officials said today.
"The turkeys were gassed on Saturday night and the destruction of their carcasses is due to end on Sunday," PAP news agency reported district crisis-management chief Hilary Januszcyzk as saying.
He added that no new cases had been detected so far.
Two turkey farms in the Plock area, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Warsaw, were cordoned off after the outbreak was discovered and routine precautions were carried out.
Polish Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki expressed surprise at reports that Lithuania had banned poultry imports from Poland following yesterday's outbreak.
"Binding European Union principles ban the import of meat only from a 3-km danger zone and 10-km threat zone around the outbreak site, but no EU member may ban imports from an entire member state," Sawicki said on news channel TVN24.
Both Poland and Lithuania have been EU members since May 2004.
Sawicki said the poultry-farm owners whose stocks had been destroyed would be compensated at current retail prices.
The bird-flu virus was believed to have been brought to Poland by migrating ducks, geese or swans. Poland's previous bird flu outbreak was in wild swans in the northern city of Torun in 2006.
According to the World Health Organisation, the virus has caused more than 200 deaths in humans globally since 2003. None have been reported in Poland.