African Union Friday appealed for cooperation among African governments to devise tangible measures against the possible outbreak of bird flu.

"African ministers responsible for animal resources should devise appropriate measure to combat the avian influenza that had ravaged livestock across Europe and claimed over 60 lives in Asia, " said Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who is also the vice president of African Union.

Governments must cooperate to campaign against animal diseases including the deadly H5N1 strain of virus as most of the population across the continent survive on agriculture and livestock, said Kagame during the 7th AU Conference of Ministers Responsible for Animal Resources.

Seventeen ministers in charge of agriculture or health, along with over 200 experts, particularly veterinaries, from more than 40 African nations and 20 international organizations, added bird flu as a top agenda to the one-day conference held in Kigali, capital of the tiny African country Rwanda.

Kagame urged African governments to allocate 10 percent of their budget into agriculture and livestock to strengthen animal disease control.

Deputy Chairman of the African Union Commission Patrick Mazimpaka also said that African governments should share disease control information to track the development of animal diseases and to cooperate in the fight against livestock diseases proved threats to human life.

The delegates are expected to define a precaution scheme for the poor-prepared continent against the threat of the H5N1 strain that has sparked a global panic.

The Food and Agriculture organization of UN warned that upcoming migration of wild birds are likely to carry the virus into the continent from Europe where the H5N1 strain had been found among fowls in the past three weeks.

Source: Xinhua