Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko ordered the government on Wednesday to take emergency measures to prevent avian flu from entering Ukrainian territory, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

The report said that Yushchenko in a decree ordered the creation of a commission in three days to formulate measures and approve precautionary plans by the beginning of next month.

Yushchenko asked the government to tighten monitoring of poultry imports and prevent smuggling of avian products. The country's meat processing factories, stocking and trading places should also be put under strict scrutiny.

The president also said in the decree that the government at all levels should offer sufficient financial and material support to the fight against bird flu.

The concerns over bird flu have grown in Ukraine after the appearance of the deadly H5N1 virus in neighboring Romania and nearby Turkey. Greece also discovered a case of bird flu on Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2005)