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Ivory Coast records isolated case of bird flu
Friday ? November 24, 2006
An isolated case of bird flu has been discovered in turkeys in Ivory Coast, the first since the last outbreak in the capital six months ago, health authorities said.
"Results of samples ... from two turkeys that died November 9, made it possible to detect on November 17, an isolated case of avian flu caused by the H5N1 virus," the livestock production ministry said in a statement.
The tests were carried out at a veterinary laboratory in Bingerville, near Abidjan.
The two turkeys came from a livestock camp on a village on the outskirts of Abidjan.
Health and sanitary measures have been put in place and people exposed to the birds are under medical supervision, said government.
The Ivorian government announced in early September the end of a ban on poultry imports that it imposed in May after bird flu was discovered near the economic capital Abidjan.
After containing the outbreak in June, the government authorized the reopening of the city's poultry markets shut since May.
To eradicate the virus, a large-scale disinfection of affected poultry farms, slaughter houses and the market itself was carried out.
Some 2,000 domestic fowls were culled and authorities ordered 12 million doses of animal vaccine to halt the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The strain is consistently lethal to birds and has also killed more than 150 people worldwide since late 2003.
The Ivory Coast's poultry sector counts some 30 million fowl, generates more than 60 million euros (78 million dollars) in revenue, and employs 15,000 people. ? AFP
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