The Ministry of Food and Agriculture will soon lift the ban on the rearing and movement of poultry products within the Tema metropolis and other parts of the country that were hit by the Avian influenza, otherwise known as the bird flu. Anna Nyamekye, Deputy Minister in-charge of Livestock, who disclosed this to the Times on Tuesday, said the monitoring exercise carried out in the affected areas showed that it was now safe as the gestation period of the disease was over. "We are now putting our acts together to see if we can lift the ban to enable the poultry farmers return to the business," Mrs. Nyamekye said. She said the government had paid over 500 million cedis as compensation to the affected farmers whose poultry were destroyed as part of efforts to check the spread of the disease. Thousands of live birds and other poultry products were destroyed on the affected farms following the outbreak of the disease. Bird flu is a highly contagious viral infection that affects the respiratory track of poultry and causes widespread fatality of poultry. The disease can spread to human beings upon contact with infected birds. The disease which was detected in Asia in December 2003 and had spread to other parts of the world causing global concern had since been brought to appreciable level of control. Experts say poultry products when cooked at a temperature above 70 degrees celsius are safe for consumption. It is recalled that in May, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Ernest Debrah at an emergency press conference in Accra announced the outbreak of the disease in the country, specifically in the Tema metropolis and subsequently banned the movement of poultry products in the area. The disease was later reported in Sunyani and Aflao. Following the outbreak, the ministry through the support of development partners set up an emergency preparedness team to undertake surveillance to contain the situation. Source: The Ghanaian Times