The United Nations said Tuesday Ethiopia had made substantial progress in preparations to cope with a possible avian flu outbreak since it established a national task force a month ago.

The country has secured 1.09 million US dollars for its initial phase of the 53 million dollars needed in the fight against the H5N1 virus strain of avian flu affecting humans, said a statement issued from the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Ethiopia was one of the countries along the Rift Valley that the World Health Organization (WHO) had identified earlier as " being at great risk of avian flu because of the million migratory birds that will reach the country in December," OCHA said.

On Oct. 26 the country banned imports of poultry and poultry products to guard against the flu risk. It also established a national task force with technical committees, said the UN aid agency.

The UN has also established its own crisis management team in Ethiopia for avian flu and is now in the process of finalizing a contingency plan to deal with a potential outbreak of the disease, according to the statement.

The arrival of migratory birds carrying the deadly H5N1 flu virus is expected between December and next spring in the African Rift Valley states of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, said WHO experts.

The H5N1 virus can cross the species barrier into humans, leading to viral pneumonia and organ failure.

The biggest fear among health experts is the virus will mutate so that it can spread easily between humans, causing a pandemic that could kill millions.

Source: Xinhua