Ethiopia said yesterday the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has not yet been detected in the country.

However, it said another type of bird flu was detected in a state-owned poultry farm in Guraghe Zone of the South Ethiopia People's State. It described the fear of the prevalence of bird flu that led to the avoidance of the consumption of poultry products "groundless."

At a press briefing jointly held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), and the Ministry of Health (MoH), Mesfin Sahle, head of MoARD's National Animal Health Research Center, said the preliminary results of the investigation, conducted by Ethiopian experts on chicken samples from the poultry farm, indicated that the disease has resemblance with bird flu, but later the results were found to be negative for the H5N1 strain.

Mesfin said the samples have been sent for further investigation at the international referral laboratory in Italy, which was established by the World Health Organization (WHO). The results are still being awaited, he added.

Seleshi Zewdie, head of MoARD's Animal Health Protection Department, said the country is making necessary preparations to control the occurrence and spread of avian flu.

Four teams have been deployed to survey the prevalence of the disease within 200 km radius from the capital Addis Ababa, Seleshi said.

Seleshi added a team from the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) conducted an investigation in the Rift Valley areas and that the result of which is being awaited.

Meanwhile, Tiruwork Tafesse, integrated disease surveillance and control team leader with the Ministry of Health (MoH), said a sum of more than 2.5 million birr (288,018 U.S. dollars) has been secured for the prevention and control activity, while further technical and financial assistance is requested from donors.

Tiruwork said the fear of the public regarding the existence of the epidemic is baseless, and added that there is no harm in consuming poultry products at this time.

It was learned that there are about 50 million chickens in Ethiopia.

She said people should avoid any contact with diseased birds and should inform relevant government organs in case of any signs of the disease.

Ethiopia, along with other east African Rift Valley nations such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, are considered at high risk for the spread of the virus as millions of migratory birds flock there during the European winter.