Marcos Chagas
Repórter da Agência Brasil

Brasília – In his weekly radio broadcast to the nation Café com o Presidente, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared that Brazil is doing everything it can to avoid bird flu. He pointed out that the business community, and the ministries of Health and Agricultue are taking measures to halt the entrance of the disease.

According to Lula, if the disease does affect poultry in Brazil, the government is prepared to deal with the problem. "We can produce the necessary vaccines, we have strengthened our control in ports and airports. We are not standing by waiting for this to arrive and then take action. We are ready right now," said the president.

Last week the president made a point of eating some chicken in public during a visit to the Brazilian Farm Research Corporation (Embrapa). "There is no need to be afraid of eating chicken," said the president. "Sometimes people are alarmed about something they do not have the correct information about," said Lula.

Translation: Allen Bennett