Italy passes decree to prepare for bird flu

Italy’s cabinet passed a decree on Friday to try to prevent an outbreak of bird flu and be prepared with vaccines if they are eventually needed.

The law will beef up controls on poultry entering Italy and increase veterinary checks in domestic industry with immediate effect.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told a news conference the decree would help prepare the country in case of “an eventual bird flu epidemic”.

No cases of bird flu have been detected in Italy.

Health Minister Francesco Storace said the economy ministry had slated some 50 million euros for vaccines if needed.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which surfaced in Hong Kong eight years ago, has killed more than 60 people in Asia, led to the destruction of millions of birds and has started to spread west.

Speaking in New York on Thursday, World Health Organisation chief Lee Jong-wook said the virus was moving toward becoming transmissible by humans and the international community had no time to waste to prevent a pandemic.

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