FAO launches avian influenza project

In an effort to combat Avian Influenza, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched a new project to strengthen surveillance of the deadly virus in Afghanistan, the agency said on Tuesday in the capital Kabul. The war-ravaged country saw the last case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in April in the eastern province of Kapisa. The one-year programme is designed to strengthen the country’s capacity to address avian influenza through identifying outbreaks, adopting control measures, training for farmers and scientists and conducting an effective public awareness campaign, said Assadullah Azhari, FAO’s public information officer in Afghanistan, said. The project, “Interim Emergency Assistance for Avian Influenza in Afghanistan” is funded by France, Jordan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Switzerland. “These governments have generously contributed US $300,000 to finance this project at a very critical juncture,” Azhari noted. The project will be implemented by FAO Afghanistan in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food (MAAHF). Avian influenza was first confirmed in March from six samples of birds in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangarhar. The virus was also detected in the central Logar province on 13 April. No human cases have been reported in the impoverished Central Asian state so far. The government ordered an immediate culling of all domestic fowl in the affected areas to prevent the disease from spreading. The UN agency had warned that dealing with bird flu could be particularly difficult for destitute Afghanistan, as its public veterinary services remain weak, despite the fact that about 85 percent of its population lives in close contact with poultry, with most rural families owning several chickens.