Pakistan Quarantines 2 Chicken Farms

[sharon sanders]

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities placed two small farms under quarantine as a precaution against a suspected outbreak of bird flu after detecting a mild avian flu strain in flocks, the Livestock Commissioner said on Monday.
Dr. Muhammad Afzal said two farms in North West Frontier Province had been quarantined as a result of inspections of flocks throughout the country following an outbreak in neighbouring India earlier this month.
"We have extensively surveyed the country and we have detected two farms with low-pathogenic avian influenza," Afzal said.
About 700 birds out of a total of 15,000 on both farms had died after developing breathing problems, and the owners have agreed to cull their flocks, the official said.
The strain of virus had not been confirmed but initial tests pointed to a H5 subtype present at the two farms, he said. Tests for the N-subtype have still to be carried out.
The H5N1 strain has killed at least 92 people since late 2003 and the virus has spread rapidly in the past month with cases in wild birds and poultry confirmed across parts of Europe, Africa as well as India and Malaysia.
The virus killed thousands of poultry in India but no human infections have been reported.
Afzal said there was no confirmation of any outbreak of the H5N1 virus but that samples were being sent to laboratories in Britain.
"We are sharing the outbreak news as a precautionary measure, otherwise the situation is not at all alarming because the strain is not harmful for humans," Afzal told Reuters.
He said one of the quarantined farms was in Abbotabad, 125 km north of Islamabad, and the other was in Charsadda, 120 km northwest.
People working on the farms had been tested and were not infected with bird flu, another agriculture ministry official.
"Our initial findings suggested that the outbreak is not from any migratory birds and it is not harmful for humans," he added.
Low-pathogenic forms of bird flu cause mild symptoms such as ruffled feathers and a drop in egg production.
But it is believed that potentially deadly H5 and H7 strains of bird flu viruses start off in low-pathogenic forms when they are first introduced to poultry flocks and mutate to a highly pathogenic form within a few months if they are allowed to circulate.
Not all H5 varieties are highly pathogenic, but the H5N1 virus is particularly tenacious and poses the greatest risk to people. Scientists fear H5N1 might mutate into a form that passes easily between humans, triggering a pandemic.


© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

[Toaster2]

Re: Pakistan Quarantines 2 Chicken Farms

Apparently H5 is confirmed. H5N1 testing ongoing - yet stated that it is mild.

[sharon sanders]

Re: Pakistan Quarantines 2 Chicken Farms

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Pakistan detects 'mild' bird flu


</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Pakistan has banned poultry imports from India


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->Pakistani authorities have quarantined two poultry farms in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) after a mild strain of bird flu was detected there.
Samples from the farms have been sent to England for further tests to rule out the deadly H5N1 strain, Dr Mohamad Afzal from the food ministry said.
Nearly 25,000 birds in the farms are being slaughtered as a precaution, Dr Afzal said.
The H5N1 strain was detected in neighbouring India nine days ago. <!-- E SF -->
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Tens of thousands of birds have been slaughtered in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Further tests
The mild H5 strain of avian influenza was found at poultry farms in Abbotabad and Charsadda districts of NWFP.
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Workers at Gul Poultry Farm in Charsadda town, nearly 60km (37miles) from the provincial capital, Peshawar, have also been asked to leave the premises and health officials have been asked to conduct tests on the workers.
Dr Afzal said "we have not ruled out that it is H5N1 but it appears to be a low pathogenic strain."
The results of the samples sent to England are expected "within a week or so", he added.
Last week Pakistan banned imports of poultry and related products from India, France and Iran.
The H5N1 virus does not at present pose a large-scale threat to humans, as it cannot pass easily from one person to another. However, experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk.<!-- E BO -->


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