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Africa Warned of Avian Flu

Just days after Europe warned of a worldwide pandemic of the bird flu, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that East Africa needs urgent help to combat the bird flu virus which could soon spread there.

Confirmation that the potentially deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has already arrived in Turkey and Romania suggests it is being carried by migrating birds, and reportedly samples have also now been found in Greece.

The Food and Agriculture Organization says the first migrating birds carrying avian flu could arrive in North Africa and then East Africa in the coming weeks. "The countries urgently need international assistance to build up basic surveillance and control systems," FAO chief veterinary officer Joseph Domenech says.