By Reuters Staff

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       FILE PHOTO: Veterinarians vaccinate a goose against bird flu in the village of Kaikovo, some 20 km (12 miles) south of Minsk, March 29, 2010. Poultry near ponds are vaccinated every spring before migrant birds arrive, a veterinary official said. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko/File Photo

       WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Namibia suspended imports of live poultry, birds and poultry products from Germany and the Netherlands on Monday after outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in the European countries.

       Germany reported the bird flu outbreak at a goose farm last week while commercial farms across the Netherlands were ordered to keep all poultry inside after an outbreak at a farm in the central province of Flevoland.

       Namibia’s veterinary services directorate said it had with immediate effect suspended the import and in-transit movement of live poultry, birds, raw poultry products, live ostriches and ostrich products from the two countries.

       It said consignments of poultry products packed from Oct. 1 in Germany and Oct. 5 in the Netherlands would be rejected and returned or destroyed at a cost to the importer.

       The risk to humans from the disease is considered low, but previous outbreaks among farm birds have resulted in extensive slaughtering programmes to contain the spread.

       Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa, Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Barbara Lewis

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