Tweet
Teacher Dying of Suspected Bird Flu Spreads Panic in Amiriya
By Tarek Amin 31/12/2007
Anti-bird flu inspection and preventive medicine teams and a number of police forces yesterday raided the five-story house [*snip*] in the Amiriya area north of Cairo.
They silently climbed to the roof and culled all birds there before stuffing them in well-sealed sacks after obtaining samples from them. Then they removed the nests completely before spraying the rooftop and staircase of the house with pesticides and disinfectants.
When residents asked them about the reason for this measure they said that the house is contaminated with bird flu and the dead man who lived on the second floor was suspected of having contracted the disease. The teams went to the opposite house where they did the same thing before leaving the area amid feelings of worry and fear.
43-year-old primary school teacher Salah Eddin Mohamed Ali had died of acute pneumonia at dawn the day before yesterday according to the hospital report. As per the information we have obtained, the dead man had told the hospital to which he was taken on Friday that he was raising poultry in his house, prompting the hospital's administration to inform the officials at once.
Al-Masry Al-Youm quickly moved to the house [*snip*] in al-Fardous city in Amiriya, as inspection teams and police forces had just left. We found the house where silence had reigned. The wife of the deceased, Mrs. Madiha, 41 years, was receiving condolences from women in her neighborhood and was in a terrible condition.
"My husband was a teacher at Farid al-Taer Primary School on Port Said Street and he started to develop the symptoms of cold and flu on Saturday [Dec 29], prompting him to take a two-day leave from work.
He began to complain from acute chest pains and inability to breathe normally, but he did not see a doctor. When he fell ill again, we took him to the Manshiyet al-Bakry Hospital where he was brought into the intensive care unit. He died at dawn on Saturday [Dec 29]," she told al-Masry al-Youm.
"We do not know the cause of his death until now, but they came to the house and told us that the deceased might have died of avian influenza," she said. "I'm very worried about my son Nesma (13 years) and Walid (9 years) because they used to climb to the nest," she added.
When we went out of the house, the people gathered around us in panic not knowing what to do.
According to eyewitnesses, doctors did not examine any of the residents of the house or take samples from them or their children, although they used to go up to the roof everyday. And when the residents asked them to give their children vaccination, they replied: "We will wait for 24 hours to verify the samples. Just don't spread panic."
By Tarek Amin 31/12/2007
Anti-bird flu inspection and preventive medicine teams and a number of police forces yesterday raided the five-story house [*snip*] in the Amiriya area north of Cairo.
They silently climbed to the roof and culled all birds there before stuffing them in well-sealed sacks after obtaining samples from them. Then they removed the nests completely before spraying the rooftop and staircase of the house with pesticides and disinfectants.
When residents asked them about the reason for this measure they said that the house is contaminated with bird flu and the dead man who lived on the second floor was suspected of having contracted the disease. The teams went to the opposite house where they did the same thing before leaving the area amid feelings of worry and fear.
43-year-old primary school teacher Salah Eddin Mohamed Ali had died of acute pneumonia at dawn the day before yesterday according to the hospital report. As per the information we have obtained, the dead man had told the hospital to which he was taken on Friday that he was raising poultry in his house, prompting the hospital's administration to inform the officials at once.
Al-Masry Al-Youm quickly moved to the house [*snip*] in al-Fardous city in Amiriya, as inspection teams and police forces had just left. We found the house where silence had reigned. The wife of the deceased, Mrs. Madiha, 41 years, was receiving condolences from women in her neighborhood and was in a terrible condition.
"My husband was a teacher at Farid al-Taer Primary School on Port Said Street and he started to develop the symptoms of cold and flu on Saturday [Dec 29], prompting him to take a two-day leave from work.
He began to complain from acute chest pains and inability to breathe normally, but he did not see a doctor. When he fell ill again, we took him to the Manshiyet al-Bakry Hospital where he was brought into the intensive care unit. He died at dawn on Saturday [Dec 29]," she told al-Masry al-Youm.
"We do not know the cause of his death until now, but they came to the house and told us that the deceased might have died of avian influenza," she said. "I'm very worried about my son Nesma (13 years) and Walid (9 years) because they used to climb to the nest," she added.
When we went out of the house, the people gathered around us in panic not knowing what to do.
According to eyewitnesses, doctors did not examine any of the residents of the house or take samples from them or their children, although they used to go up to the roof everyday. And when the residents asked them to give their children vaccination, they replied: "We will wait for 24 hours to verify the samples. Just don't spread panic."
Comment