Jordan and Israel bird flu talks

Israelis have begun monitoring migratory birds for the virus

Jordanian and Israeli agricultural officials have met to discuss co-ordinating efforts to combat bird flu, officials say.

The director general of the Israeli health ministry has admitted that a local outbreak of bird flu is likely to happen soon.

The two states lie in the path of birds migrating from countries which have confirmed cases of bird flu.

Turkey, Russia and Romania have detected the virus' lethal strain.

At least 60 people in Asia have died after contracting flu from birds infected by the H5N1 strain.

'Only a matter of time'

Avi Yisraeli, the director general of the Israeli health ministry, warned that the virus would not take long to reach the region.

He told a press conference on Wednesday that it would be "only a matter of time, and likely to happen soon, because of migrating birds that are liable to carry the disease from Turkey, Greece or Romania".

Dr Moshe Haimovich, director of the Agriculture Ministry's Veterinary Service, described the meeting on the Jordanian side of the Allenby Bridge border crossing, as "very good".

"We met to establish close co-operation and set up an open line between our two services for an exchange of information," Dr Haimovich told AFP.

Israel says it would deal with any outbreak by culling all poultry within three kilometres (two miles) of a confirmed case, and vaccinating birds within 10km (6 miles).

Jordan has stopped imports of pet birds from affected countries and banned the hunting of migratory birds.

The officials decided to have another bi-national meeting in three weeks to evaluate their progress.

Palestinian representatives were not invited to the talks, but have said they would ban the import of birds and eggs from Israel.