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?Avian flu not confirmed? - Kenya
Posted Mon, 15 May 2006
Nyeri - Veterinary authorities in Kenya on Sunday said that bird flu has not been diagnosed and confirmed in the country despite the discovery of dead domestic and wild birds at certain areas in the country.
But they conceded that vigorous campaigns to educate on the deadly avian influenza was still needed in order to give Kenyans the confidence and assure them that the virus had hit the country.
Senior veterinary officer, Dr Paul Kalerwa, speaking on Sunday in Nyeri, the central provincial capital, 140km north of Nairobi, expressed concern that majority of Kenyans had stopped feeding on chicken due to fear of contacting the deadly virus.
"This is despite the fact that all the diagnosed samples (of the dead birds found) in the country has revealed no any trace of the virus," he lamented.
He disclosed that at least 500 birds dead collected all over the country had been tested and no case of the deadly virus had been noticed.
Kalerwa challenged poultry farmers in the country to take all necessary precautions while managing their flock in order to help in restoring confidence to the consumers following the threat posed by the dangerous bird flu virus. He further advised the farmers to form associations in order to effectively market their products by ensuring that unscrupulous traders who dictate the prices did not exploit them.
He said the country's veterinary department, through the National Task Force on Avian Influenza had mobilised an aggressive surveillance team to tour all parts of the country and get more samples from birds to ensure that no case of the virus goes unnoticed.
"We expect the team to come with at least 10 000 samples for analysis in order to ensure that our country is still free from the deadly bird flu," said Kalerwa, while addressing poultry farmers from Nyeri at a one-day seminar on the virus.
All the country's administrative districts were also expected to have formed disease surveillance committees in an effort to monitor occurrences of the bird flu virus and other animal diseases, he added.
Last week Djibouti became the fist East Africa country to confirm a case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, promoting fear from surrounding countries that it could spread to them, including Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
Posted Mon, 15 May 2006
Nyeri - Veterinary authorities in Kenya on Sunday said that bird flu has not been diagnosed and confirmed in the country despite the discovery of dead domestic and wild birds at certain areas in the country.
But they conceded that vigorous campaigns to educate on the deadly avian influenza was still needed in order to give Kenyans the confidence and assure them that the virus had hit the country.
Senior veterinary officer, Dr Paul Kalerwa, speaking on Sunday in Nyeri, the central provincial capital, 140km north of Nairobi, expressed concern that majority of Kenyans had stopped feeding on chicken due to fear of contacting the deadly virus.
"This is despite the fact that all the diagnosed samples (of the dead birds found) in the country has revealed no any trace of the virus," he lamented.
He disclosed that at least 500 birds dead collected all over the country had been tested and no case of the deadly virus had been noticed.
Kalerwa challenged poultry farmers in the country to take all necessary precautions while managing their flock in order to help in restoring confidence to the consumers following the threat posed by the dangerous bird flu virus. He further advised the farmers to form associations in order to effectively market their products by ensuring that unscrupulous traders who dictate the prices did not exploit them.
He said the country's veterinary department, through the National Task Force on Avian Influenza had mobilised an aggressive surveillance team to tour all parts of the country and get more samples from birds to ensure that no case of the virus goes unnoticed.
"We expect the team to come with at least 10 000 samples for analysis in order to ensure that our country is still free from the deadly bird flu," said Kalerwa, while addressing poultry farmers from Nyeri at a one-day seminar on the virus.
All the country's administrative districts were also expected to have formed disease surveillance committees in an effort to monitor occurrences of the bird flu virus and other animal diseases, he added.
Last week Djibouti became the fist East Africa country to confirm a case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, promoting fear from surrounding countries that it could spread to them, including Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
