Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on Monday urged his
government to boost measures to fend off the lethal bird flu which
has claimed two lives in neighboring Turkey, veterinary authorities
said.
Kocharyan asked the government to take "all possible preventive
measures" including getting ready for the forthcoming spring bird
migration from neighboring Turkey and other countries, said Grigory
Bagiyan, chief of the veterinary inspectorate, quoted by the
Interfax news agency.
Bagiyan also gave assurances that the situation in Armenia
regarding bird flu is stable, and that no bird flu virus has been
recorded in the country so far.
Armenia had already banned poultry and egg imports from Russia,
Ukraine, Romania, Turkey and some Central Asian states.
Turkey has become the center of the latest outbreak of the bird
flu virus, with the H5N1 strain diagnosed in 14 cases and its
having claimed two lives.
Two children from the same family died in eastern Turkey last
week after playing with sick chickens, becoming the first human
fatalities outside eastern Asia.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2006)
