Saudi Arabia has banned the import of live birds and hatching eggs from all Asian countries in response to the outbreak of bird flu, a government document obtained by Reuters on Wednesday showed.
Instruction from the Agriculture Ministry, dated January 29, said the decision was taken because "this disease affects both humans and animals and spreads rapidly". The ban was not announced at the time.
The ministry said the issue was particularly important because of the huge numbers of Muslims who were visiting Saudi Arabia for the annual haj pilgrimage at the end of January.