Nepal at risk of bird flu: WHO NITYA NANDA TIMSINA KATHMANDU, Feb 20 - Dr. Margarita Ronderos, an epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO) Sunday warned the possibility of the outbreak of the deadly bird flu in Nepal. Reacting to the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring India, she said, "Nepal is at risk of avian influenza though no single case has been detected so far." "A surveillance of possible human cases is underway in various risk-areas that include Koshi Tappu and Chitwan where large flocks of birds migrate from India and other countries," she said. Though a total of 20 investigations made in Nepal so far have shown negative results, Dr. Ronderos did not rule out the possibility of the outbreak of bird flu, which is rapidly spreading around the world. The WHO has helped the government prepare a national plan for the prevention of avian influenza. The plan has been endorsed by the Cabinet recently and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health and Population have been given the task to identify avian influenza and control and contain the spread of the deadly disease. Though Nepal has been categorized as a "low-risk" country in the just concluded conference of epidemiologists in Beijing, the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring India has made Nepal a high-risk country. A source at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) of the government and the WHO have stepped up with a bird flu prevention and control program. Alert along border with India Meanwhile, as a preventive measure to stop the spread of H5N1 bird flu virus to Nepal via the open southern border, the government on Sunday asked all 24 quarantine officers who were attending a workshop in the capital to join their office immediately. Officials at the Animal Health Department of the government held an emergency meeting in Kathmandu on Saturday and decided to activate all quarantine posts along the Nepal-India border. They took the decision after analyzing reports of the confirmation of bird flu cases in the Indian states of Maharastra and Gujarat. "We are under high risk after the virus has appeared in India," said Dr Dhana Raj Ratala, project director at Animal Health Department. The meeting decided to keep "special watch" on import of chicken and semi-pet birds from India, which shares a more than 1700 kilometer open border with Nepal. "Earlier, we were concentrated on Tibet after the Bird Flu was reported in China and because of the migrant birds coming to Nepal via Tibet, but our focus has now shifted to India," Ratala said. The department also briefed officials about personal safety measures and ways to prevent spread of the virus. The government also decided to appeal to the people not to import chicken from India as a formal ban is in process due to some legal technicalities. "Quarantine offices along the border have been asked to strictly monitor import as well as internal transportation of chicken," said Ratala. Peking ducks and chicken from Tibet are already banned due to the possibility of spread of the virus through migrant birds as bird flu had been reported in China.