Sri Lanka in high risk of contracting bird flu

Sri Lanka in high risk of contracting bird flu

Sri Lankan health officials said Monday that the country is at high risk for a bird flu outbreak and falls short on resources aimed at prevention.

"The risk is high," said S.K.R Amarasekara, the chief of Sri Lanka's Animal Production and Health Department.

He attributed the risk mainly to migratory birds from the west coast of India, where the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus was found in dead chickens, low "bio-security" in local poultry farms and a significant movement of passenger traffic between Sri Lanka and India.

"If we have to be fully prepared, we need all the resources which we are lacking at the moment," Amarasekara said, reports the AP.

I.L.