Bahrain is continuously updating its contingency plan in its fight against bird flu, despite the slim chances of an outbreak, a government official has said.

The country is safe, but precautions are still being taken by the Anti Bird Flu Committee to ensure that it is up to date on the latest developments, said Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Mansoor bin Rajab.

'Precautions must be taken and prevention plans must be updated in case the flu reaches Bahrain,' he said.

The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a one-day workshop held at the Crowne Plaza's Bahrain Conference Centre.

Experts from various organisations, including the Health, Industry and Commerce, Municipalities and Agriculture and Interior ministries took part.

'Bahrain is ready to combat bird flu and the workshop is aimed at highlighting various aspects related to the possibility of an outbreak, which has threatened a number of countries,' said Bin Rajab.

'Combined efforts of the various government and civil sectors are important to fight the disease.'

The workshop highlighted the ability to detect the early stages of the avian flu, its preventions, treatments and its developments.

Ministry animal resources director Dr Abdulnabi Salman said that the precautionary and preventative procedures cover all aspects.

'If any country has an outbreak of bird flu we ban imports of live birds from there immediately. That's why we had banned birds from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and India when they had an outbreak last year,' he said.

'We have a team that regularly test birds at poultry farms and also advises farmers about the symptoms of avian influenza.'

Dr Salman said that the team monitors all birds, poultry farms and markets and takes blood or faeces samples from migratory birds.

'We have made arrangements with an international expert from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to evaluate the national plan and amend it if necessary,' he said.

'We also have a 24 hour hotline number (17693900) to report any bird flu cases in the country.'

He said that if an outbreak occurs in the country, the affected poultry farm would be isolated completely from other farms and no birds will be allowed to enter or exit.

'All the birds in the farm and other neighbouring farms will be killed and will be discarded in a hygienic manner,' said Dr Salman.

'However, in this case, the affected farm owners will be compensated accordingly.'

He said that farm labourers will be prevented from entering or leaving the farm until they run a complete check up and the bird faeces in the farm will also be discarded.

'The country has taken all precautionary measures to guarantee that it is free of bird flu,' said Dr Salman.

'The situation at the moment is very safe and the possibilities of an outbreak are very slim.'-TradeArabia News Service