FAO Warning: Caucasus at High Risk for Bird Flu
Despite successful efforts to contain the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus, avian flu poses a threat to a growing number of countries, and the Caucasus and southern Balkans are now considered ?high-risk? areas, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on August 21.
?The region is not only a prime resting ground for migratory bird species, but poultry production is mostly characterized by rural and household husbandry with little in terms of biosecurity and strong regulatory inspection,? Juan Lubroth, head of FAO?s Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal Diseases, said.
Two cases of bird flu were detected in a dead swan in the Khelvachauri district of Adjara Autonomous Republic in February, triggering a state of emergency and the culling of poultry in the area. The state of emergency was lifted in mid-March after authorities announced that there was no longer a threat of avian flu spreading.
The U.S Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) recently helped renovate the Georgian Central Laboratory for Veterinary Diagnostics and Expertise. The lab, which is described by officials as the most advanced system in this region, gives Georgia the capability to test for the presence of diseases such as avian flu.
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