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But, it needs help -- both money and expertise.
"We are taking the situation seriously, but we need
many things. We need funds and also we need more
communication with international health groups, in
person not via letters," Abdul Jali Hassan told
Reuters.
"We have been on high alert since October, and now
even more so after bird flu was discovered in
Turkey," he said. "We have issued orders to border
officials to check (the poultry imports), but it is
a bit difficult knowing the conditions."
He said Iraq had also banned imports of poultry from
Turkey, "but in a country like Iraq many people
import on their own, it is not organised".
Iraqi authorities say they also have no complete
records of slaughterhouses in Iraq, making their job
of monitoring any outbreak even more difficult.
"But we are working on locating them and counting
them, then we will monitor their work," Hassan said.
Seven government ministries would hold meetings
within two days to decide whether further steps
needed to be taken, he added.
Migrating wild birds, often a carrier of the virus,
are due to start arriving soon at Lake Ducan in
Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
Reuters
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