Oman bans poultry imports from India and Iran

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Oman has banned the import of all poultry and poultry products from India and Iran, the state news agency ONA said on Saturday, after outbreaks of avian influenza in those countries.

The report gave no official reason for the ban.

Veterinary workers began killing thousands of chickens in eastern Indian on Wednesday after what the World Health Organisation (WHO) said was the worst outbreak of bird flu in the country.

The outbreak in West Bengal was the fourth in India since 2006 and presented the country's toughest challenge yet.

Iran has also found the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in ducks and geese in the north of the Islamic Republic. No human cases were reported, local media said.

H5N1 is the bird flu strain that scientists fear could mutate into a form easily passed among humans. Iran first reported H5N1 in wild swans in the north in 2006.

Oman, on the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, lies across the Gulf from Iran and has an Indian Ocean coast and traditional trade ties with both countries.

(Reporting by Lin Noueihede)