Pakistan: Lab findings on bird flu expected next week

[Waltz]

Lab findings on bird flu expected next week: Livestock official

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/March06/18/04.htm

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has sent fresh samples of infected chickens to a British laboratory in London to test the presence of bird flu and the laboratory was expected to issue its findings by next week.

Livestock Commissioner Dr. Muhammad Afzal talking with Geo News said samples from Abbotabad and Charsadda poultry farms were sent to a laboratory in Britain for testing, and the laboratory has since requested fresh samples which were sent earlier this week.

He said the British laboratory was expected to issue its finding by the weekend, Afzal said, adding that the government was in touch with the laboratory.

Courtesy Geo

 

[Waltz]

Re: Pakistan: Lab findings on bird flu expected next week

Islamabad sends samples to UK for bird flu tests

Published: Saturday, 18 March, 2006, 08:56 AM Doha Time
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topi...o=77328&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

KARACHI: Pakistan has sent fresh samples of infected chickens to a British laboratory to test the presence of bird flu after detecting a mild avian flu strain in some flocks last month, a top farm official has said.

Pakistanis fear the dreaded H5N1 strain that can kill people as well as birds will be confirmed because outbreaks have occurred in neighbouring Afghanistan, India and Iran.

On February 27, Pakistani farm authorities found low-pathogenic avian influenza in two farms in the towns of Abbotabad, 125 km north of Islamabad, and in Charsadda, 120 km to the northwest.

About 700 birds out of a total of 23,000 on both farms died after developing breathing problems, and the surviving birds were culled later.

Samples from the birds were sent to a laboratory in Britain for testing, and the laboratory has since requested fresh samples which were sent earlier this week, according to Dr Mohamed Afzal, the country?s Livestock Commissioner.

?We have not received any advisory or suggestion from them prior to their final finding,? Afzal said, adding that the government was in touch with the laboratory.

The presence of an H5 subtype flu virus has already been confirmed, Afzal said but further tests were needed to confirm the subtype for the neuraminidase (or N) antigen component.

Food Secretary Mohamed Ismail Qureshi said the British laboratory was expected to issue its finding by the weekend.

The H5N1 strain has killed about 100 people since 2003 and the virus has spread rapidly in the past month in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Chicken consumption in Pakistan has plummeted and an article in The News daily headlined ?Chickening out on bird flu? aired suspicions that the government was more concerned with protecting the poultry industry than people?s health. - Reuters