The government plans to launch a full-fledged research and development project on the prevention of avian influenza and other infectious diseases affecting both humans and animals.

The Ministry of Science and Technology said Friday that, together with the Health and Agriculture Ministries, it has decided to initiate the project to monitor and prevent bird flu, rabies and brucellosis, an infectious disease often passed through tainted milk.

The ministry is devising detailed plans for the inter-ministerial R&D project in an effort to tackle the three diseases which it says require an urgent response.

There are some 250 infectious diseases that affect both human and animals, one-hundred of which are considered significant public health concerns. Included in that group are avian influenza, rabies, the human variant of mad cow disease Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD), anthrax and brucellosis.