Nepali government on Friday has declared Nepal as a "bird flu affected country", local news website myrepublica.com reported.

An emergency meeting of the cabinet held on Friday afternoon in Nepali capital Kathmandu has decided to exterminate all birds in the areas three kilometers from the Nepal-India border at Kakarvitta in Jhapa district, some 320 km southeast of Nepali capital Kathmandu.

According to the report, Nepali Minister for Tourism, Hisila Yami said that the government has decided to expedite surveillance in the areas 10 km from the Kakarvitta border.

The decision was made after the Avian Influenza had been detected in six out of seven samples of birds brought to Nepal from India.

The Cabinet meeting has also decided to be high alert at the areas around 10 km from Kakarvitta to prevent the bird flu from spreading.

Earlier, a meeting of the avian flu experts and government officials had also decided to deploy a central team to Jhapa district in eastern Nepal to take necessary measures to avoid the outbreak of the disease across the country.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2009)