No link has been found between a birdflu outbreak in Hungary and a similar virus on a Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk, the European Commission has said.
After Anglo-Hungarian talks in Brussels, a spokesman said there was no evidence of the infection spreading from a restricted birdflu-hit zone in south-east Hungary to a Bernard Matthews slaughterhouse.
The spotlight is on contamination between the sites as a possible source of the arrival of birdflu in Suffolk, after the deadly strain of H5N1 took hold at the Bernard Matthews plant in Holton more than a week ago.
Last week's suggestion by the UK Government that turkey meat from Hungary may be to blame was rejected by Mr Matthews.
Now the meeting at Commission headquarters has heard that records back to November show no turkeys from the affected Szentes region being transported to the Matthews plant in Sarvar.
The Hungarians were updating EU officials and also UK Government representatives as the outbreak continued.
Environment Secretary David Miliband has also been holding talks with senior officials, vets and public health experts to assess the outbreak, Downing Street said.
The meeting, at Mr Miliband's departmental offices, was organised to review action taken so far to cope with the outbreak, said Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman.
Mr Matthews announced last Thursday that he had voluntarily suspended all movements of his poultry products between the UK and his company's Hungarian plant.
The Hungarian evidence leaves open speculation about the possible cause of the Suffolk outbreak. Other possible "vectors of transmission", according to EU officials, include via vehicles and human contact with feathers or birds such as seagulls.
PA