SANTO DOMINGO. - The Public Health Ministry continues an active, nationwide effort to control the recent outbreak of bird flu, with personnel being trained to take and analyze lab samples to diagnose the disease and other types of flu, said deputy minister Nelson Rodriguez today.

Rodriguez said Dominican Republic is prepared to face any eventuality regarding bird flu cases, which have been detected in poultry farms across the country. Though the possibility of a pandemic is remote, the government is looking at ways to bolster its response capacity, he said.

Rodriguez said the country is also complying with international agreements on sanitary regulation.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) released a report last week saying the Dominican government had failed to take adequate steps to control the outbreak and prevent new cases, according to a story published today by Reuters.

In a move unrelated to the scandal surrounding Dominican baseball star Pedro Martinez's attendance at a cockfight, the report urged the government to ban cockfighting until all outbreaks are cleared. The rationale is to limit the movement of potentially infected fighting birds and prevent other birds from coming into contact with infectious fluids such as blood.

Agriculture Ministry Livestock director Angel Faxas today said a UNFAO report of recommendations for the sanitary control of bird flu is "outdated," because it was published in January 2007.

"That report is old; the FAO’s recommendations were implemented more than 15 days ago," he said. However, that report may be different from the one cited in the Reuters story that criticized the government's inaction.

Faxas said the situation is “currently under effective control and in the last weeks we haven’t had a report of any type of cases of bird flu."