False bird-flu reports lead to slaughter in Zambia

[Sally Furniss]

Hundreds of villagers in southern Zambia have slaughtered their chickens and goats in the wake of false reports of the presence of the deadly bird flu having reached the country, news reports said on Wednesday.

Chieftain Chiawa, of the Goba people in lower Zambezi, confirmed that her people had slaughtered all their poultry and goats after hearing of an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus that can transfer to humans in Zambia.

It was not clear who was responsible for the false reports, according to local media. Villagers were told that the virus could easily spread to goats too, prompting the mass slaughter. Some villagers sold their poultry for as little as 50 United States cents.

Zambia has set up a task force of health and agricultural officials and representatives of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation to respond to the threat of the global bird-flu epidemic to human life.

The government has so far imposed restrictions on the import of all bird species that include poultry and poultry products.

However, funding to contain any possible outbreak of the disease has fallen far short, raising concern among consumer watchdogs. The impoverished Southern African country has allocated $20 000 to fight bird flu.

UN agencies have advised African governments to suspend trade in poultry as an immediate control measure to prevent its spread following an outbreak in the West African nation of Nigeria. -- Sapa-dpa

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=264364&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

 

[Sharpe]

Re: False bird-flu reports lead to slaughter in Zambia

It's remarkable how long Zambia has been having these bird deaths without resolution of the existence of bird flu. Here is yet another report from today.

Dead birds in Lusaka triggers new fear of bird flu outbreak
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Four birds found dead in Lusaka Wednesday has triggered new fear of possible bird flu outbreak, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) reported Thursday.

It quoted a witness as saying that he has informed the case to the office concerned and asked them to take the four dead birds.

More than 40 wild birds were found dead the other day in Livingstone near the famous Victoria Falls shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Zambian government is looking into the cases of bird death in the southern tourist capital for fear of an outbreak of avian flu, which has already hit eight African countries, said a senior health official Tuesday.

"We are investigating the matter but so far there has been no confirmation of an outbreak," Health Ministry permanent secretary Simon Miti said.

Health authorities in the region have appealed to local people who ate the dead wild birds to report to health center for medical examinations.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for calm, saying laboratory tests are being conducted to determine the cause of the deaths.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is providing funds for laboratory tests at the Central Veterinary Institute in Lusaka. FAO country representative Dong Qingsong said here Wednesday results from the institute will be sent to South Africa for further tests.

Source: Xinhua