H5N1 Update
Saudi Arabia culls 4
million birds
Most countries in the
Middle East, especially those
bordering Saudi Arabia,
have taken measures to
prevent bird flu after an
outbreak of the disease there
in early November, reports
IRIN News (29 November
2007).
About four million birds
were culled in Saudi Arabia
in the two weeks prior to the IRIN report, according to
the Ministry of Agriculture.
A Saudi Health Ministry
official confirmed that there
were no suspected cases of
bird flu among humans in
the kingdom but people
who had had direct contact
with infected birds were
being tested.
“This is part of the precautionary
measures taken by
the ministry when new cases
are confirmed among birds,” Khaled Marghlani, a senior
Health Ministry spokesman
told IRIN on 28 November.
“All farmers or workers who
dealt with birds or poultry
products in infected locations
were tested and all
results were negative.”
Marghlani said there had
been a great change in
people's attitudes towards
the disease since its first
appearance in the kingdom
in 2004. “At that time
people panicked because
they didn’t know what the
disease was and how to
prevent it, which is not the
case today.”
He attributed
this to a public awareness
campaign by his ministry.
There was particular
concern in Saudi Arabia
about the outbreak of avian
flu because the hajj
[pilgrimage] season, which
started in December and
attracts over two million
pilgrims from around the
world.
WHO
John Jabbour, a medical
consultant for emerging
diseases at the World Health
Organisation (WHO)
Regional Office for the
Eastern Mediterranean, told
IRIN: “All the countries in
the area have started
working on national plans
to control the outbreak of
the disease among birds and
prepare for a possible
pandemic influenza.”
WHO also has technical
teams which are evaluating
these plans, Jabbour said.
“We also organise visits to
medical centres to measure
the readiness of the staff and
the availability of medicines
and laboratory elements,”
he added.
Egypt
Egypt, the country worst
affected by avian flu in the
Middle East, has registered
19 human deaths from the
disease since it was first
detected in 2006.
However, Jabbour said the
country’s transparency in
dealing with the disease was
vital in “enabling the
different UN organisations
like WHO and the Food and
Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) to provide their services”.
He said Egypt was at
an advanced stage in its
national plan to counter
avian flu and was also
working with WHO on
producing vaccines locally.
Jamal Suleiman, a Health
Ministry spokesman, said
Egypt’s preparedness had
improved significantly
compared to early 2006.
Suleiman told IRIN:
“Today the Ministry of
Environment is regularly
monitoring migrating birds
while the Ministry of
Agriculture is continuing its
vaccination programmes for
domestically reared poultry.
Medicines and medical
equipment had also been
made available to all hospitals
and medical centres
across the country.
“The media campaigns
launched by the ministry
across the country have
made people more aware of
the dangers of raising
poultry at home,” he said.
Iraq
The WHO Iraq office, which
operates from Amman, has
experts ready to go in as
soon as an emergency
occurs, said Jabbour.
Mohammed Jassim of the
Iraqi Health Ministry said
the ministry had set up an
operational centre, which
includes representatives
from other ministries, to
monitor any bird flu-related
developments.
“We have printed thousands
of health posters to be distributed
to people through governmental
and non-governmental
parties,” Jassim added.
Jordan
The Royal Society for the
Conservation of Nature
(RSCN) has reportedly been
monitoring sites at Jordan
Valley and the country's
dams to detect the disease.
“The society is carrying
out tests on dead birds,
especially migratory birds
from Europe that pass
through Jordan to Africa,” RSCN Director-General
Yahya Khalid was quoted by
a local paper as saying.
Nasser Hawamdeh, assistant
secretary-general of
animal affairs at the
Ministry of Agriculture, told
IRIN: “We have started field
monitoring and are sending
technical staff to farms,
areas where poultry is
reared domestically, areas of
migrating bird flocks and
poultry shops, to obtain
field samples for inspection
at our laboratories.”
Jordan does not import
large amounts of poultry
since the country depends
on local production, but it
is on the path of millions of
migrating birds between
September and April.
Jordan’s Health Ministry
laboratories are ready to
examine suspected samples
with the H5N1 virus, said
Adel Bilbeisi, a Health
Ministry official.
He said
the ministry had also intensified
the monitoring of
diseases in hospitals and
medical centres, and
doctors and nurses had
been trained on how to deal
with patients suspected of
being infected with bird flu.
“The Ministry has a sufficient
supply of Tamiflu –
around three million
capsules – in addition to
100kg of instant powder
that can be consumed as a
drink for children, and
sufficient protective equipment
such as respirators
and gloves,” Bilbeisi added.
Health authorities
reported in early 2007 four
cases of the deadly H5N1
virus in Ajloun, 80km north
of Amman among domestically
reared turkeys,
prompting the authorities to
cull 50,000 birds in that
area.
The first human infected
with the virus was reported
in the kingdom in April
when an Egyptian expatriate
reportedly contracted the
virus in Egypt before arriving
in the kingdom. He was
treated and released from
hospital a few days later.
Lebanon
The WHO continues to
report no confirmed cases
of the H5N1 virus in
Lebanon. Initial bans on
hunting and a cut of 50% in
poultry production from
early 2006 have been lifted.
Sales of poultry have
bounced back to normal
levels after dropping some
80% early in 2006 on news
that bird flu had spread to neighbouring countries.
Vehicle disinfectant dips on
the main road running
between Lebanon and Syria
have been removed.
A workshop in February
2006 at the Beirut
Government University
Hospital involving the
Ministry of Public Health
(MOPH) and the WHO built
on a ministerial decree that
established an avian influenza
unit inside the MOPH.
Nada Ghosn, head of the
Epidemiology and
Surveillance Unit at the
MOPH, discussed reporting
mechanisms in case of a bird
flu outbreak, explaining the
roles of clinicians, MOPH
officers, MOPH coordinators,
patient transport services,
designated hospitals, the
national reference laboratory,
and epidemiological
surveillance units.
The workshop
also dealt with the role
of first responders, such as
the Red Cross or the Civil Defence.
The WHO says Lebanon
remains at risk from avian
influenza as it is a stopover
point for migratory birds,
has poor controls in place
regarding the hunting of
birds, and imports live
poultry.
Some farmers
remain poorly informed of
the risks, despite a widespread
public awareness
campaign launched early last
year.
Date
of upload: 22nd Jan 2008
