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http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main...29888&cat_id=1
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By Alexia Saoulli
</CENTER>THERE is no cause for panic despite the latest spate of avian influenza deaths on the island?s doorstep, local health authorities said yesterday.
?I don?t believe there will be a problem as there have been incidences of avian influenza in Egypt in the past and we haven?t been affected,? Veterinary Services animal health and welfare division head Christos Hadjipapas said.
Nevertheless, he said that around six weeks ago, the services had alerted customs at all ports to be extra vigilant when inspecting travellers arriving from Egypt, as well as Syria and Israel, where there had been outbreaks in the past.
Hadjipapas said the human cases of the H5N1 virus infection did not mean there was an elevation in incidence and explained that the victims had been family members who had kept poultry and come in direct contact with the infected animals.
?There is no danger for us. The birds do not migrate from Egypt to Cyprus, nor do I believe it likely that any Cypriots travelling to Egypt will go to someone?s home where they?re keeping chickens or ducks,? he said.
Despite his confidence that the virus would not be brought to the island, the veterinary officer said customs officials would continue to check passengers? luggage to ensure no one tried to smuggle through birds or food.
Poultry Farm Association president Petros Mintikkis said he was more worried about the media?s handling of the situation than about any actual cases.
He was referring to last year?s media frenzy that brought the local poultry industry to its knees after chicken sales plummeted following reports of the H5N1 strain in Europe.
?The only thing that worries us is how the media handles it. Last year, had things continued the way they had, there might have been no poultry industry today?
?From our point of view, there is no problem because we know what measures to take, how the virus is transmitted and know that the chance of it being transmitted to humans is minimal to non-existent,? he said.
Mintikkis said it was important not to cause panic and upset consumers unnecessarily.
?The fact that there has been this outbreak in Egypt is not something new and was expected, just as there have been incidences in Nigeria and Korea. We expect this to continue and no one can say when it will end, so we have to learn to live with it and take precautions,? he said.
Three people have died of bird flu in Egypt in the past week. All three cases belong to one extended family in Gharbiyah province, 80 kilometres northwest of the capital city, Cairo. They included a 30 year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and a 26 year-old man.
Diseased birds increase the opportunities for human infection and provide chances for H5N1 to mutate into a form transmissible from human-to-human, which world health authorities fear would spark a lethal pandemic killing millions.
The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 261 people in 10 countries in the past three years, killing 157 of them, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday. Last year, 42 fatalities were confirmed, after 32 in 2004 and four in 2003. Six of every 10 reported cases have been fatal and a majority of cases has occurred among children and young adults.
<CENTER></CENTER>
<CENTER>
By Alexia Saoulli
</CENTER>THERE is no cause for panic despite the latest spate of avian influenza deaths on the island?s doorstep, local health authorities said yesterday.
?I don?t believe there will be a problem as there have been incidences of avian influenza in Egypt in the past and we haven?t been affected,? Veterinary Services animal health and welfare division head Christos Hadjipapas said.
Nevertheless, he said that around six weeks ago, the services had alerted customs at all ports to be extra vigilant when inspecting travellers arriving from Egypt, as well as Syria and Israel, where there had been outbreaks in the past.
Hadjipapas said the human cases of the H5N1 virus infection did not mean there was an elevation in incidence and explained that the victims had been family members who had kept poultry and come in direct contact with the infected animals.
?There is no danger for us. The birds do not migrate from Egypt to Cyprus, nor do I believe it likely that any Cypriots travelling to Egypt will go to someone?s home where they?re keeping chickens or ducks,? he said.
Despite his confidence that the virus would not be brought to the island, the veterinary officer said customs officials would continue to check passengers? luggage to ensure no one tried to smuggle through birds or food.
Poultry Farm Association president Petros Mintikkis said he was more worried about the media?s handling of the situation than about any actual cases.
He was referring to last year?s media frenzy that brought the local poultry industry to its knees after chicken sales plummeted following reports of the H5N1 strain in Europe.
?The only thing that worries us is how the media handles it. Last year, had things continued the way they had, there might have been no poultry industry today?
?From our point of view, there is no problem because we know what measures to take, how the virus is transmitted and know that the chance of it being transmitted to humans is minimal to non-existent,? he said.
Mintikkis said it was important not to cause panic and upset consumers unnecessarily.
?The fact that there has been this outbreak in Egypt is not something new and was expected, just as there have been incidences in Nigeria and Korea. We expect this to continue and no one can say when it will end, so we have to learn to live with it and take precautions,? he said.
Three people have died of bird flu in Egypt in the past week. All three cases belong to one extended family in Gharbiyah province, 80 kilometres northwest of the capital city, Cairo. They included a 30 year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and a 26 year-old man.
Diseased birds increase the opportunities for human infection and provide chances for H5N1 to mutate into a form transmissible from human-to-human, which world health authorities fear would spark a lethal pandemic killing millions.
The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 261 people in 10 countries in the past three years, killing 157 of them, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday. Last year, 42 fatalities were confirmed, after 32 in 2004 and four in 2003. Six of every 10 reported cases have been fatal and a majority of cases has occurred among children and young adults.
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