By Alastair Sharp SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Compensation for farmers affected by bird flu helps the early detection of new outbreaks, the U.N's avian influenza chief said on Sunday, but refrained from criticising countries like Egypt that lack such programmes. Cambodia and Egypt -- which is hosting a ministerial summit on the virus -- are the only countries heavily affected by bird flu that do not offer some form of compensation. "In our view, compensation for the value of birds that are destroyed for the control of avian influenza is important if public cooperation is to occur," David Nabarro told Reuters on Sunday. "At the same time we appreciate that governments will wish to decide who is most in need of compensation," he added. Egypt paid compensation for birds that had to be culled in the first months after the avian influenza virus arrived in the North African country in early 2006, but the agriculture ministry says this programme ended in May 2006. At a joint press conference earlier, Egyptian Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza said Egypt wanted to provide compensation, but that "this is a cost we cannot shoulder". Some 22 Egyptians have died of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu since the virus arrived in the most populous Arab country, where 5 million households depend on poultry as a main source of food and income. VACCINATIONS Abaza said Egypt was relying on public education to combat the disease and on a large-scale vaccination programme, including for household flocks. He said 60 percent of non-commercial poultry had been vaccinated so far at a cost of 150 million Egyptian pounds ($27 million). "We would have liked to have enough resources to compensate, but the only alternative is free vaccinations," Abaza added. Egypt, the worst-hit country outside of Asia, has said it is unlikely the disease can be completely eradicated despite the vaccination programme. Many experts attending the conference in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el Sheikh this weekend have praised long-term compensation programmes as the best way to ensure rapid detection of new outbreaks. But Abaza said he believed Egyptian farmers and small-scale poultry owners would alert authorities following a successful public awareness campaign, despite the lack of compensation. "Now they understand this outbreak is dangerous for their own children," he said. Bird flu has killed 245 people in Asia, Africa and Europe since late 2003. Countless birds have also been culled. The World Bank estimates that a global pandemic resulting from the mutation of bird flu could cost $3 trillion and result in a nearly 5 percent drop in world gross domestic product. It has said that more than 70 million people could die worldwide in a severe pandemic. ($1 = 5.5924 Egyptian pounds) (Editing by Sue Thomas)
U.S. actor Michael Pitt arrives on the red carpet to attend the amfAR Foundation for AIDS Research dinner and auction during the Rome Film Festival October 24, 2008. REUTERS/Max Rossi (ITALY) ...
