The Russian government said it has divided up the United States into zones, Reuters reports. Zone One is where multiple cases of the North American flu virus has appeared and its propagation among pigs was unclear. All raw meat and meat products are banned from states in Zone One, including New York, Texas and California. Zone Two, where only raw pork and pork products are banned, includes states bordering Mexico, states where isolated cases of flu have been reported and presence of the virus among pigs is highly improbable. Zone Three includes all virus-free states, and imports of meat products is unaffected by the flu outbreak.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a statement saying that pork products from the United States are safe and that there has been no evidence that the virus could be transferred by eating meat.