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Sri Lanka fears bird flu may hit rebel areas
20 Feb 2006 06:43:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Peter Apps COLOMBO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Diseased chickens smuggled by boat from India might carry bird flu to rebel Tamil Tiger held areas in Sri Lanka, an official said on Monday, after its neighbour reported its first case of bird flu in poultry. Two decades of fighting halted by a 2002 truce left the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in control of much of Sri Lanka's north -- the closest area to India and a likely first point of arrival for birds with a lethal strain of flu. "A lot of birds are coming from India to Sri Lanka, not only migratory but also coming in the boats," S.K.R. Amarasekara, director general of the Livestock Ministry's animal production and health department, told Reuters. "The first entry point is the (LTTE) areas where we cannot do our veterinary surveillance."
n October, Sri Lanka suspended poultry imports from a string of countries in Asia and Eastern Europe where H5N1 bird flu had been identified, and Amarasekara said formal imports from India had now been stopped -- but that was not the whole picture. Sri Lanka is almost joined to the foot of India by a string of island's known as Adam's Bridge, but the only identified cases of H5N1 in India are further north in Maharashtra state, where 50,000 birds have died and some 30 people are being tested. "I'm a little more worried now," Amarasekara said. "The risk is higher." Sri Lanka has never reported a case of H5N1. So far, at least 171 people worldwide have been infected with the virus since late 2003 and 93 have died. Most contracted it after contact with chickens, but there are fears it could mutate, pass between people and kill millions in a global pandemic. The waters between India and Sri Lanka are heavily patrolled, but refugees cross, fishermen pass between the two sides and the navy says the rebels also use civilian boats to smuggle weapons. Government health officials do operate in rebel areas, reporting both to the capital Colombo and to the de facto Tiger state, but the region has been devastated both by the war and the 2004 tsunami and Amarasekara said monitoring was much more limited than in the rest of the country. The Tigers, who have sent a delegation to Switzerland for the first direct talks with the government since 2003 after a string of suspected rebel attacks pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of war in January, said they had no immediate comment.
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20 Feb 2006 06:43:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Peter Apps COLOMBO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Diseased chickens smuggled by boat from India might carry bird flu to rebel Tamil Tiger held areas in Sri Lanka, an official said on Monday, after its neighbour reported its first case of bird flu in poultry. Two decades of fighting halted by a 2002 truce left the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in control of much of Sri Lanka's north -- the closest area to India and a likely first point of arrival for birds with a lethal strain of flu. "A lot of birds are coming from India to Sri Lanka, not only migratory but also coming in the boats," S.K.R. Amarasekara, director general of the Livestock Ministry's animal production and health department, told Reuters. "The first entry point is the (LTTE) areas where we cannot do our veterinary surveillance."
n October, Sri Lanka suspended poultry imports from a string of countries in Asia and Eastern Europe where H5N1 bird flu had been identified, and Amarasekara said formal imports from India had now been stopped -- but that was not the whole picture. Sri Lanka is almost joined to the foot of India by a string of island's known as Adam's Bridge, but the only identified cases of H5N1 in India are further north in Maharashtra state, where 50,000 birds have died and some 30 people are being tested. "I'm a little more worried now," Amarasekara said. "The risk is higher." Sri Lanka has never reported a case of H5N1. So far, at least 171 people worldwide have been infected with the virus since late 2003 and 93 have died. Most contracted it after contact with chickens, but there are fears it could mutate, pass between people and kill millions in a global pandemic. The waters between India and Sri Lanka are heavily patrolled, but refugees cross, fishermen pass between the two sides and the navy says the rebels also use civilian boats to smuggle weapons. Government health officials do operate in rebel areas, reporting both to the capital Colombo and to the de facto Tiger state, but the region has been devastated both by the war and the 2004 tsunami and Amarasekara said monitoring was much more limited than in the rest of the country. The Tigers, who have sent a delegation to Switzerland for the first direct talks with the government since 2003 after a string of suspected rebel attacks pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of war in January, said they had no immediate comment.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL26885.htm
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