Venezuela unveils plan to fight bird flu

Venezuela has approved a contingency plan to fight any possible bird flu outbreak in the South American nation, a government official said Wednesday.

The plan stresses measures to prevent and contain the bird flu virus should it reach &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/16573_Chavez.html' target=_blank>Venezuela, said Jose Manuel Garcia, director of the health ministry's epidemics department.

Garcia said the plan involves vaccinations for humans and inspections of imported poultry at all seaports, airports and border crossings.

In October, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Panama banned Colombian poultry imports after bird flu was detected there. Colombian Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias has said the virus detected was not the deadly H5N1 strain, but rather a mild strain of avian influenza.