JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (Xinhuanet) -- South Africa, the biggest importer of poultry in southern Africa, faced a greater risk of avian-flu transmission via poultry products than its neighbors, according to Mudibo Traure, the director of the African Union's intra-African bureau of animal resources.

    Traure was quoted by local weekly Sunday times as saying that South Africa was also in the best position to combat the disease because of its experience in eradicating a related epidemic caused by the H5N2 virus among ostriches last August.

    Traure said the spread of avian flu into southern Africa was more likely to be as a result of trade in poultry products than from migratory birds.

    Traure spoke after a workshop to assess the preparedness of southern Africa to deal with the bird-borne infection of the H5N1 virus that has killed about 90 people worldwide.

    Although mandated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to assess the preparedness of the region to combat the disease, the workshop panel was unwilling to identify which southern African countries most needed assistance, apart from saying some needed more help than others.

    The panel also declined to specify the nature of assistance that might be required. Large-scale poultry producers would be urged to strengthen "biodefences", said Bonaventure Mtei, representative of the 167-member World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

    A lack of understanding about the migratory routes of wild birds complicates the issue. The first cases of H5N1 bird flu were reported earlier this month in Niger and Nigeria. Enditem