LUSAKA, Jan. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The Zambian health minister has said that her country is at high risk of catching avian influenza and the government needs over 1 million US dollars to contain it, according to Zambia Daily Mail on Wednesday.

    Sylvia Masebo was quoted as saying that the southern African country has been noticed to be among the countries at high risk of being affected by the pandemic.

    "There is no doubt, Zambia is an high risk country and it is coming...We therefore need to adequately prepare for the coming of the pandemic," she said.

    To this end, her ministry and Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry have formed a task force and have further developed a strategic national response plan to tackle issues surrounding the avian influenza, said the minister.

    The minister is particularly worried about Livingstone because it is one of the cities in the country which receives a large number of tourists.

    The two ministries have since deployed enough personnel to the border areas of the country to ensure enforcement of port health and restriction of poultry and its products importation.

    The Agriculture Ministry has distributed face sheets it developed to all veterinary institutions and extension officers around the country, reported the newspaper. Enditem