Brussels, 18/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU does not intend to strengthen the mechanism put in place for predicting avian flu following new cases of the disease in Russia, indicated a Commission spokesperson on Thursday. The spokesperson added that, “we will continue to follow the situation very closely. There is an early warning system that will enable supplementary measures to be taken in real time if necessary”. The spokesperson also pointed out that the measures taken at the beginning of August allowed for the half of all poultry imports from Russia and Kazakhstan. In this country as well as in Kalmoukia, a Russian region to the west of the Urals, the Russian authorities indicated that on Wednesday they discovered more birds that had died from avian flu. No human contamination has been detected in Russian since the discovery of the first outbreak of the epidemic at the end of July. Although the Netherlands has enforced stricter measures, Germany could also follow, explained Renate Kinas, German minister for agriculture on Wednesday in a statement to ZDF. She explained that experts were examining how to limit contact between poultry and migratory birds, which could possible be carriers of the virus.