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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/544152
Bird Flu Re-Emerges in Egyptian Poultry After Lull
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By Cynthia Johnston
CAIRO, Sept 4 (Reuters) Sept 04 - Egypt has detected four new cases of avian influenza in poultry, the first infections detected in two months, officials said on Monday. Bird flu has killed six people in the country so far this year and wracked its poultry industry.
Three of the cases were detected late last week in so-called "backyard", or domestically bred, poultry in the Egyptian capital during a surveillance and testing campaign, while a fourth was detected in a village near the southern city of Sohag, an agriculture ministry official said.
The cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus were the first detected in birds in Egypt in roughly two months. Egypt has had the largest cluster of human bird flu cases outside of Asia.
No human cases have been reported since May. However, avian influenza infected 14 Egyptians, killing six, between March and May after the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in February.
"It is significant," Hassan el-Bushra said of the new poultry cases. "It tells us that the virus is still circulating." Dr. el-Bushra is regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the World Health Organisation,
Chickens on rooftops may be particularly susceptible to catching the virus from infected migrant birds, which fly along the densely populated Nile valley during migration, experts have suggested.
The new bird flu cases found in poultry mean that there is still a risk of human cases in Egypt, but a large outbreak was less likely to take hold or spread so long as Egypt continues to vaccinate poultry, Dr. el-Bushra said.
"The risk is going to be much less than what we had before, but it is still there," Dr. el-Bushra told Reuters, adding Egypt had a more than adequate supply of the antiviral agent Tamiflu, if humans again develop the disease.
"It's not going to be the same ... If the virus emerges again, it wouldn't spread rapidly because the poultry would be vaccinated. It may come to a dead end," he said.
The vast majority of Egyptian commercial poultry flocks have been vaccinated, while 20 percent of domestic birds had received vaccines, the agriculture ministry official said.
An official from the Food and Agriculture Organisation said the expected onset of cooler weather in the autumn could still cause a flare-up of cases in poultry, and urged increased surveillance accompanied by a fair compensation scheme.
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Bird Flu Re-Emerges in Egyptian Poultry After Lull
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<!-- Author Name Only if Publication is Medscape Wire--><!-- rule changed may 2005 with introduction of patient news--><!-- /Author Name Only if Publication is Medscape Wire --><!-- Content --><!-- <TABLE> <TR> <TD width="570"> --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD><!-- AD --><!-- Adspace 1157481861029%26adsize%3D300x250%26site%3Dmscp%26pos%3Dtop%26cb%3Dmed%26mpg%3D3 --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2 src="http://adv.medscape.com/js.ng/ord%3D1157481861029%26adsize%3D300x250%26site%3Dmscp%26pos%3Dtop%26cb%3Dmed%26mpg%3D3" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>
<!-- /Adspace --><!-- AD --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>By Cynthia Johnston
CAIRO, Sept 4 (Reuters) Sept 04 - Egypt has detected four new cases of avian influenza in poultry, the first infections detected in two months, officials said on Monday. Bird flu has killed six people in the country so far this year and wracked its poultry industry.
Three of the cases were detected late last week in so-called "backyard", or domestically bred, poultry in the Egyptian capital during a surveillance and testing campaign, while a fourth was detected in a village near the southern city of Sohag, an agriculture ministry official said.
The cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus were the first detected in birds in Egypt in roughly two months. Egypt has had the largest cluster of human bird flu cases outside of Asia.
No human cases have been reported since May. However, avian influenza infected 14 Egyptians, killing six, between March and May after the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in February.
"It is significant," Hassan el-Bushra said of the new poultry cases. "It tells us that the virus is still circulating." Dr. el-Bushra is regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the World Health Organisation,
Chickens on rooftops may be particularly susceptible to catching the virus from infected migrant birds, which fly along the densely populated Nile valley during migration, experts have suggested.
The new bird flu cases found in poultry mean that there is still a risk of human cases in Egypt, but a large outbreak was less likely to take hold or spread so long as Egypt continues to vaccinate poultry, Dr. el-Bushra said.
"The risk is going to be much less than what we had before, but it is still there," Dr. el-Bushra told Reuters, adding Egypt had a more than adequate supply of the antiviral agent Tamiflu, if humans again develop the disease.
"It's not going to be the same ... If the virus emerges again, it wouldn't spread rapidly because the poultry would be vaccinated. It may come to a dead end," he said.
The vast majority of Egyptian commercial poultry flocks have been vaccinated, while 20 percent of domestic birds had received vaccines, the agriculture ministry official said.
An official from the Food and Agriculture Organisation said the expected onset of cooler weather in the autumn could still cause a flare-up of cases in poultry, and urged increased surveillance accompanied by a fair compensation scheme.
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