YAOUNDE, Feb. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Cameroon has stepped up its efforts to prevent a further spread of bird flu after the appearance of the H5N1 strain in neighboring Nigeria, local media reported Friday.

    Cameroon and Nigeria share a 1,200 km-long border and emergency measures must be put in place, said an officer from Cameroon's Ministry of Livestock, Fishing and Animal Industries, adding that there is now a very serious risk of bird flu spreading into Cameroon.

    The ministry released a report which showed that there are frequent contacts between people and animals in the two countries. It also stated that with many safari parks on the shared border of both countries, bird flu can be easily carried across the border by migrating birds.

    Bans have been imposed on Nigerian poultry and related products by Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health, and all poultry trade near the border has been suspended.

    Further, the Cameroon government has rapidly established a surveillance net to intensify its monitoring efforts. Laboratories have been readied for testing for the H5N1 strain of bird flu at short notice.

    The Cameroon media network is trying to establish systems to keep the public up-to-date with the epidemic situation. Meanwhile, the government has also urged the public to report cases of dead poultry to the appropriate departments, warning people to avoid direct contact with ill or dead birds.

    The United Nations Children's Fund has already sent funds to the country, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations is working with the Cameroon government on ways to train professional epidemic prevention personnel.

    More than 800 chickens died of, as yet, unknown causes at a chicken farm in the capital city of Yaounde last week, according to a local newspaper.

    The first case of bird flu in Africa was detected on a chicken farm in northern Nigeria on Wednesday and it was later confirmed to be of the deadly H5N1 strain. Enditem