Azerbaijan, Baku, 1 March / Trend corr. S.Babayeva / The term for the next monitoring on prevention of bird flue was set in Azerbaijan for 2008. According to the State Veterinary Service of Agricultural Ministry, the monitoring will be started on 25 March and continued for a weak..
The monitoring covers the Absheron Peninsula, including the coastline of the Caspian Sea, Davachi, Salyan, Agjabadi and Lankaran regions from 18 to 29 February.
In total 2,112 samples of domestic animals and 11 wild animals were submitted to the laboratory.
In 2007, the State Service held 12 monitoring exercises, and over 8,000 samples of wild birds and poultry were analyzed. Neither of them revealed any signs of the Bird Flu virus.
The ban on hunting, use and sale of wild birds in Azerbaijan which was imposed in autumn 2005 is still in force. All border checkpoints in the country are on medium security in order to prevent the spread of bird flu in the country.