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MIGRATORY BIRDS UNDER SCRUTINY FOR FLU
August 26, 2006 (Turkish Daily News)
Ankara - Blood samples will be collected from birds migrating via Turkey, in an effort to prevent new bird flu cases in the country
Nature Association Director Güven Erkan said on Friday that they would be initiating a program of collecting blood samples from migratory birds entering the country with the cooperation of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry and the Bird Studies Association (KAD).
He said their study would be initiated in September and that blood samples would be collected from birds that had been found dead. Birds migrating from eastern, northern and central Europe did not pose any threat because no bird flu cases had been reported there recently, said Erkan, adding that the samples would be tested for the potentially lethal H5B1 strain.
The study will be part of a wider one coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to stop the spread of bird flu. The rate of new cases was down, the FAO noted, but the virus was still continuing its advance across the globe with 55 countries now having reported infections, up from 45 in April.
The Rome-based organization said veterinary controls must be strengthened, particularly in developing countries, in a bid to limit the spread among domestic birds.
We don't expect to eradicate the H5N1 virus from possible wild bird [reserves], but we can contain and control it fully in the poultry sector, Joseph Domenech, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, said on Monday.
This is "the best insurance we have that it will not mutate into a virus that is easily transmissible among humans", he continued. We need to find the weak links in the global effort to contain H5N1 and strengthen them. "That means building up veterinary and laboratory services in the poorer countries of the world, where public services are hampered by a general lack of funds", Domenech stressed.
According to World Health Organization figures, since 2003 239 people have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus and 140 have died, mostly in Asian nations.
The initiative comes at the same time as Turkey decided to implement serious nation-wide measures to counter the threat posed by the disease. A directive issued by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on precautions against a possible bird flue pandemic was published in Wednesday's Official Gazette.
Turkey's National Pandemic Plan involves various precautions that will be taken by national institutions, with accompanying Provincial Pandemic Plans that will ensure the necessary preparedness of local bodies. Erdoğan noted in his directive that there was the possibility of H5N1 evolving into a strain that could be passed from human to human, resulting in a pandemic. He noted that autumn and winter were the usual flu seasons.
A bird flu outbreak killed four children in eastern Turkey in January, after which Turkey culled some 10 million fowl in affected areas. The children fell ill after coming into direct contact with infected birds. However, so far there have been no confirmed cases of the H5N1 strain being transmitted between humans.
Turkey was criticized early this year for insufficiently educating its population on bird flu prevention -- the children who died from the virus were reported to have been playing with severed chicken heads in their home -- but was also praised for implementing swift medical measures after bird flu struck.
A harsh winter in eastern Turkey last year forced many poultry owners to take their chickens inside their homes, leading to close contact with potentially infected birds. There are concerns that the same could happen again this winter.
Source: www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=52472
August 26, 2006 (Turkish Daily News)
Ankara - Blood samples will be collected from birds migrating via Turkey, in an effort to prevent new bird flu cases in the country
Nature Association Director Güven Erkan said on Friday that they would be initiating a program of collecting blood samples from migratory birds entering the country with the cooperation of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry and the Bird Studies Association (KAD).
He said their study would be initiated in September and that blood samples would be collected from birds that had been found dead. Birds migrating from eastern, northern and central Europe did not pose any threat because no bird flu cases had been reported there recently, said Erkan, adding that the samples would be tested for the potentially lethal H5B1 strain.
The study will be part of a wider one coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to stop the spread of bird flu. The rate of new cases was down, the FAO noted, but the virus was still continuing its advance across the globe with 55 countries now having reported infections, up from 45 in April.
The Rome-based organization said veterinary controls must be strengthened, particularly in developing countries, in a bid to limit the spread among domestic birds.
We don't expect to eradicate the H5N1 virus from possible wild bird [reserves], but we can contain and control it fully in the poultry sector, Joseph Domenech, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, said on Monday.
This is "the best insurance we have that it will not mutate into a virus that is easily transmissible among humans", he continued. We need to find the weak links in the global effort to contain H5N1 and strengthen them. "That means building up veterinary and laboratory services in the poorer countries of the world, where public services are hampered by a general lack of funds", Domenech stressed.
According to World Health Organization figures, since 2003 239 people have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus and 140 have died, mostly in Asian nations.
The initiative comes at the same time as Turkey decided to implement serious nation-wide measures to counter the threat posed by the disease. A directive issued by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on precautions against a possible bird flue pandemic was published in Wednesday's Official Gazette.
Turkey's National Pandemic Plan involves various precautions that will be taken by national institutions, with accompanying Provincial Pandemic Plans that will ensure the necessary preparedness of local bodies. Erdoğan noted in his directive that there was the possibility of H5N1 evolving into a strain that could be passed from human to human, resulting in a pandemic. He noted that autumn and winter were the usual flu seasons.
A bird flu outbreak killed four children in eastern Turkey in January, after which Turkey culled some 10 million fowl in affected areas. The children fell ill after coming into direct contact with infected birds. However, so far there have been no confirmed cases of the H5N1 strain being transmitted between humans.
Turkey was criticized early this year for insufficiently educating its population on bird flu prevention -- the children who died from the virus were reported to have been playing with severed chicken heads in their home -- but was also praised for implementing swift medical measures after bird flu struck.
A harsh winter in eastern Turkey last year forced many poultry owners to take their chickens inside their homes, leading to close contact with potentially infected birds. There are concerns that the same could happen again this winter.
Source: www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=52472