By Manuel Jimenez SANTO DOMINGO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has urged the Dominican Republic to ban cockfights to stop the spread of bird flu in the Caribbean country. But the government is not expected to halt the popular sport in the run-up to presidential elections in May. An FAO report released this week said Dominican health authorities had failed to control bird flu as new cases of animals infected with innocuous strains of the virus were reported in rural communities. Officials said 1,096 birds exposed to the H5N2 and H7 strains have been slaughtered in the villages of San Pedro de Macoris, La Vega, Bani and Higuey. Ten farm animals have also been destroyed. The H5N2 and H7 strains of bird flu do not infect humans. The FAO report, published in the media, said authorities have not taken steps to curb the movement of birds and have yet to make a map of outbreaks of the virus in the country. The Dominican Republic government says it has taken adequate steps to slaughter and quarantine animals, and disinfect areas where the virus has been detected. A rooster trained for cockfights was found infected in La Vega, the FAO said. The report, drawn up last month by three FAO experts sent to the Dominican Republic, recommended banning cockfights for 30 days at a time. The report could undermine Dominican efforts to persuade neighboring Haiti to lift a ban on the import of Dominican chicken and eggs due to the presence of the virus. Haiti's ban has financially hurt hundreds of poultry farmers in the Dominican Republic. (Editing by Anthony Boadle)
A hen is seen at a farm outside Hanoi February 14, 2008. Bird flu has killed a 40-year-old Vietnamese man who might have been infected after eating sick chickens, state-run media ...
