Afghans confirm bird flu found in chickens is H5N1

KABUL, Mar 16 (Reuters) A strain of bird flu found in dead chickens in Afghanistan has been confirmed as the deadly H5N1 strain, the government and the United Nations today said.

''The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has today been confirmed in Afghanistan in six samples,'' they said in a statement.

The samples came from dead birds found in the capital, Kabul, and in Nangarhar province, on the Pakistani border in the east, and were tested at laboratories of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Italy.

Another six samples from Kandahar province in the south and Kunduz province in the north had tested negative, they said.

The H5N1 virus has killed about 100 people in Asia and the Middle East since late 2003.

Experts fear it could mutate into a form that passes easily between humans and trigger a pandemic that could kill millions, but there have been no human cases in Afghanistan.

''Thus far in Afghanistan, avian influenza remains confined to the bird population, with no human cases reported.

Nonetheless, it is imperative that the human population is protected,'' the government and the United Nations said.

Culling would begin immediately in affected areas and markets selling poultry and poultry products in these areas would be closed and disinfected, they said.

Farmers would be compensated for their culled chickens and efforts to increase public awareness of the disease were underway, they said.

There is concern that Afghanistan, with weak veterinary and health sectors after decades of war, will struggle to contain an outbreak.

Agriculture officials say they don't even have protective suits that should be worn if authorities order a cull of poultry flocks.

Adding to concerns, most Afghan farmers and chicken traders are illiterate and know little about bird flu.

REUTERS SY RK1453