Bug Fighting

July 9, 2007 (LBO) - The United States has given Sri Lanka protective gear, test and decontamination kits to combat an outbreak of bird flu, the US embassy in Colombo said.





Sri Lanka government's Department of Animal Production and Health had received 4,500 suits of personal protection equipment, 1,500 rapid test kits, and 40 decontamination kits crucial to a quick and decisive response by the to mitigate the possibility of an epidemic.

"Thankfully, Sri Lanka remains free of Avian Influenza," US Agency for Interntional Development Mission Director, Rebecca Cohn said in a statement.

"Should the disease strike here, the consequences could be devastating.

" The embassy said the USAID with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was also boosting Sri Lanka™s avian influenza preparedness by setting up systems to block its spread to epidemic proportions if the disease enters the country.