Information from the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection about the outbreak of bird flu at a private farm in Mykolaiv region may affect the export of products by MHP agricultural holding, the agricultural holding has said.

"We are very concerned about the outbreak of bird flu in Mykolaiv region. But we hope that the quarantine measures that are now being carried out in the village of Kandybyne will reduce the risks of possible further manifestations of bird flu in the region. We also note that MHP does not have production bases in Mykolaiv region," press secretary of the holding Iryna Vannikova said.

According to her, the nearest live poultry breeding enterprises are far enough from the epidemiological center – PrJSC Oril-Leader and Vinnytsia Poultry Farm LLC are at a distance of at least 250 km from the surveillance zone around the village Kandybyne.

Vannikova said all MHP enterprises strictly observe the rules of hygiene and sanitary control in working with poultry, and each of the poultry houses is a separate closed ecosystem.

"These facts can be considered important factors in limiting possible infection of birds," she said.

"Nevertheless, we are forced to note that the news of the outbreak of bird flu may affect the export of MHP products. The specialists talked online with the key partners of MHP and assured that there is no dangerous virus in the products supplied to them," the press secretary said.

MHP drew attention to the fact that in recent weeks a number of outbreaks of bird flu have also been registered in Europe. The disease has been identified in such countries as France, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Poland.