Special report: Global fight against bird flu

    JERUSALEM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tests conducted by Israeli veterinary authority indicated that chickens in a southern Israeli farm kibbutz were not infected with bird flu virus, Israel's top-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday.

    There is no fear that the chicken coops of in Kibbutz Grofit in the Arava region have been infected with the fatal bird flu virus, Moshe Haimovitch, head of the national Veterinary Services, was quoted as saying.

    Sample tests conducted on Thursday by the Health Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry and the Veterinary Services revealed that the bird flu virus may have infected the chicken coops in Kibbutz Grofit.

    As a result of the initial tests, additional tests were taken, and the henhouses were quarantined on Thursday morning.

    "We are currently conducting peripheral tests that are part of sample tests done in a bid to map the country, in compliance with international requirements," Haimovitch said on Thursday.

    The bird flu epidemic, which broke out in many areas across the world in recent years, appeared in Israel in March 2006. Millions of hens were culled following three separate outbreaks throughout the month in order to stop the epidemic from spreading.