Kuwait said on Saturday it had taken sufficient measures to fend off bird flu after the first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus was confirmed in the gulf country, the Kuwait News Agency reported.
Following a meeting of the National Assembly's Health Committee, the President of Kuwaiti Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) Sheikh Fahd Al-Salem Al-Ali said that there was no cause for concern over the bird flu threat, for intensive efforts were made by the authorities to keep situation under control.
On Friday, Kuwait said one of the two cases of bird flu recently detected in Kuwait was caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.
It is the first confirmed case in the Gulf of the virus that has devastated poultry stocks and killed over 60 people since its outbreak in Asia in 2003.
Tests on a migratory wild flamingo found last week on a southern Kuwaiti beach showed it had the H5N1 strain.
A falcon found in a shipment at Kuwait Airport had the milder H5N2 strain.
Last month, Kuwait banned wild bird imports and all poultry from affected Asian states.
Kuwaiti government has also allocated 5.4 million dinars (US$18.5 million) for the purchase of medication used to combat bird flu.
Officials in the Gulf state say they will continue to monitor farms, bird markets and locations where birds stop when migrating from Asia to Africa.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain, which jumps from birds to people, could mutate and spawn a human flu pandemic that might kill millions.