North Korea: experience of bird flu outbreaks

A U.N. agency says North Korea's &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/360/14580_birdflu.html ' target=_blank>bird flu outbreak is under control. But an agency consultant says North Korea needs to build up its ability to monitor animal disease outbreaks across the country.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says North Korea has acted "promptly and appropriately" in dealing with its outbreak of &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/14916_flu.html ' target=_blank>avian influenza.

FAO consultant Les Sims was in Pyongyang 10 days ago. He says North Korean authorities cooperated with his team, and he has established a good relationship for on-going surveillance against the disease.

He warns that it is too early to say that the disease has been eradicated.

North Korea confirmed last month it had experienced bird flu outbreaks on three major poultry farms, including one close to the capital, Pyongyang. Reports of the outbreak prompted South Korea to cancel the first scheduled import of North Korean poultry in half a century. Japan also banned North Korean poultry, reports VOA News.

According to the Canada, a strain of the virus was recently detected on three poultry farms near the capital, Pyongyang, the UN agency said.

The chickens were infected with the H7 strain of the virus - not directly related to the H5N1 strain - the UN agency said. The H5N1 strain has jumped from poultry to humans in Southeast Asia, killing at least 51 people.