Samples of dead birds found in a national park in western Uganda were sent to a newly installed lab for tests of avian flu, the state-owned newspaper reported Wednesday.

The dead birds found in Lake Mburo National Park were sent to Entebbe Virus Research Institute, 40 km north of Kampala, for bird flu tests Tuesday, an official told New Vision daily.

Nicholas Kauta, the co-chairman of the national task force for bird/Avian flu, could not ascertain the number of the dead birds but said some samples of egrets had been submitted for testing.

Kauta, the commissioner for livestock health and entomology in the Agriculture Ministry, said the government and other stakeholders were preparing for any eventuality.

"Although we have not had anything unusual, we are not about to relax. We have extensive surveillance programs to prevent an outbreak by establishing the truth," Kauta said.

The government has stocked an influenza drug and acquired a machine to test bird flu which can release the results in five hours.

Besides an impartial ban on poultry and its products, the Ugandan government has put veterinary staff across the country, especially on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on full alert.

Four African countries are now known to have been hit by the virus which has killed nearly 100 people worldwide.

Since the first bird flu outbreak in Africa in Nigeria, only Egypt has diagnosed human cases, including one death. Other countries affected by the virus are Niger and Cameroon.

Source: Xinhua