DUSHANBE , April 19, Asia-Plus -- The second international seminar on issues of combating cross-border diseases in Central Asia opened in the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent on April 19.   

According to information from the Ministry of Health, a two-day meeting is aiming to discuss issues of combating plague, brucelosis, foot-and-mouth disease, etc.  A special attention will be given to issues of preventing spread of avian influenza (bird flu) in the region.  

The seminar participants include veterinarians from Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , and Uzbekistan as well as specialists from Afghanistan , and Pakistan .  

Deputy head of Tajik veterinary service, Abdurrahmon Mahmadshoyev, and manager of the project for cross-border animals’ diseases Sanginmurod Muruvattuloyev are representing Tajikistan in the seminar.  

We will recall that the first international seminar on the cross-border diseases was held in Dushanbe in March 2005.