New bird flu cases in Sindh, NWFP

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Bird flu cases in Sindh, NWFP

KARACHI: New bird flu cases were reported on Monday in commercial poultry farms of Sindh and NWFP, a government official said.

?Two to three days back we found traces of H5N1 virus in small poultry farms of Sindh and NWFP,? Mohammad Afzal, the commissioner for livestock at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture said, adding that all birds at these farms had been culled and the area had been disinfected. He said some 300 to 350 birds had been culled at one farm but did not mention how many H5N1 cases of bird flu had been discovered.

Several outbreaks have been detected in chickens in small poultry farms this year in Pakistan and birds have been culled. The authorities had temporarily shut Islamabad Zoo in February after four peacocks and a goose died of the H5N1 strain. Afzal said quarantine and vaccination measures were also being used in and around the affected farms. reuters

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\10\story_10-4-2007_pg7_4

 

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Re: New bird flu cases in Sindh, NWFP

Pakistan flu alert

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities yesterday reported two new cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in commercial poultry farms in the country, officials said. The virus was detected in the northwestern city of Abbotabad and the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday and Friday, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry spokesman Mohammad Afzal said. "We collected samples and conducted tests after some chickens were found dead at the two places," he said.

Some 600 chickens were slaughtered - 350 in Karachi and about 250 in Abbotabad -- after the tests confirmed they were infected with H5N1 virus, he said.

"The farms were small and isolated and there is nothing alarming," he added.

The authorities last month shut down a zoo in the capital, Islamabad, and slaughtered dozens of birds after the virus was found in peacocks and geese.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=177319&Sn=WORL&IssueID=30021