MEXICO CITY, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Mexico has launched a review of its animal health rules to reduce the chance of the H5N1 strain of bird flu reaching its poultry farms, the chief sanitary official said on Friday. Enrique Sanchez, who heads Mexico's animal health service, said the government was working with farmers, poultry companies and trade partners to find ways to improve sanitation. He said the government was focused on improving biosecurity on farms and wanted better control over movement of birds. "Above all we are very interested in biosecurity and mobility," he said in an interview with Reuters. "A better biosecurity standard has to be part of the norms." Sanchez said Mexico had successfully contained several outbreaks of low pathogen bird flu, which is present across a large swathe of central and southern Mexico. He said tougher rules were needed to ensure that laboratories in different regions and between countries were using the same types of tests to detect outbreaks. "The idea is to homogenize laboratory standards with those of our partners to ensure the tests are the same," he said. Mexico has several government-run laboratories that test for animal disease outbreaks, and more than 20 private laboratories that test on behalf of the government. Mexico is free of the H5N1 virus, which has killed at least 167 people worldwide since 2003, mainly in Asia. Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily from human to human, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.
