Brasília, February 10, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The risk of Brazilian birds being infected by avian influenza ("bird flu") is minimal. This assurance comes from Liana Brentano, researcher at the Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Company) Fowl and Swine center in Concórdia (SC). Contamination by the disease occurs through fowl, especially water fowl.

According to the researcher, the chances that a focus of the disease will arise in Brazil are remote, because, in Brazil, migratory fowl, who could carry the virus, come from the Northern hemisphere and not from Asia, where the outbreak is concentrated. "The risk is not zero. It could occur as a result of importing contaminated fowl or, later on, through migratory movements," Brentano affirms. (DAS)