Bird flu has not come up so far in Ethiopia, said a government official on Saturday.

Mulugeta Debalkew, head of Information and Public Relations Bureau with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told journalists that chickens from the nearby Debre-zeit poultry farm and migratory birds from Europe and Asia as well as Rift Valley areas were diagnosed against bird flu, but the disease has not been found.

Chickens from individuals' houses and dead chickens from Somalia, Afar, Oromia and Amhara states were also checked and none are found infected with bird flu virus, he said.

However, he said the diagnosing of birds against the bird flu will be further enhanced, as birds continue to migrate from country to country until June.

According to Mulugeta, equipment necessary for the surveillance of bird flu and valued at over 1 million birr (115,207 U.S. dollars) in a drive to prevent the recurrence of the disease will arrive here on Sunday from abroad.

Mulugeta said the ministries of health and agriculture and rural development have been formulating a strategy that will enable the country to prevent bird flu.

The Ethiopian official said the strategy will help on how to prevent the disease from spreading into the country and preventing after it surfaces in the country.

Early this month, the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was found in the northern part of Nigeria, where thousands of poultry have died recently.

The World Health Organization has urged all African countries to take measures to protect human health against bird flu and prepare for a pandemic.

Source: Xinhua