Active surveillance of bird flu under way in Jordan
26 October 2007
AMMAN - The Ministry of Agriculture is currently carrying out an active surveillance of bird flu to assure other countries that it is free from the disease, according to agriculture officials.
The surveillance is an international requirement that should be carried out every six months in countries where avian flu has been detected, according to Nasser Hawamdeh, assistant secretary general of animal affairs at the ministry.
"The goal of such a comprehensive inspection is to announce to the world that Jordan continues to be a bird flu-free country and importing chicken from the country is safe," Hawamdeh told The Jordan Times yesterday.
In March last year, four cases of the deadly H5N1 virus were identified in Ajloun among home-bred turkeys, prompting a huge cull of some 50,000 birds within a six-kilometre radius.
A month later, Jordan reported its first human case - an Egyptian worker who reportedly contracted the virus in his home in the Fayoum Province, southwest of Cairo. He was treated and discharged after making a full recovery.
Following the two incidents, countries such as Saudi Arabia and Oman stopped importing chicken from the Kingdom due to health concerns. Recently, the two countries lifted their ban on the import of live chicks.
Hawamdeh said the surveillance takes random samples from poultry farms, domestic chickens and areas frequented by wild and migrant birds, and examines them at the ministry's labs.
"The surveillance is the first of its kind, but the ministry's agriculture departments regularly carries out inspections on chickens and birds in different regions to ensure the country is still free from the disease," Hawamdeh said.
He added that results of the surveillance will be sent to the Paris-based International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which will, in turn, announce that Jordan has carried out required field and scientific studies proving it is free from the disease.
The Kingdom is a member-state of OIE, whose mission is to improve animal health worldwide.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said it will continue its measures and the training of medical staff in preparation for any outbreak of avian influenza.
The ministry is carrying out training programmes and exercises for medics in Jerash that will gradually be provided to the rest of the country, director of the disease control department, Bassam Hijjawi, told The Jordan Times.
The official said the active surveillance forms a defensive line against the deadly disease, ensures that birds are safe and prevents the disease from advancing to phase four, where it is transmitted between humans.
Hana Namrouqa
? Jordan Times 2007
26 October 2007
AMMAN - The Ministry of Agriculture is currently carrying out an active surveillance of bird flu to assure other countries that it is free from the disease, according to agriculture officials.
The surveillance is an international requirement that should be carried out every six months in countries where avian flu has been detected, according to Nasser Hawamdeh, assistant secretary general of animal affairs at the ministry.
"The goal of such a comprehensive inspection is to announce to the world that Jordan continues to be a bird flu-free country and importing chicken from the country is safe," Hawamdeh told The Jordan Times yesterday.
In March last year, four cases of the deadly H5N1 virus were identified in Ajloun among home-bred turkeys, prompting a huge cull of some 50,000 birds within a six-kilometre radius.
A month later, Jordan reported its first human case - an Egyptian worker who reportedly contracted the virus in his home in the Fayoum Province, southwest of Cairo. He was treated and discharged after making a full recovery.
Following the two incidents, countries such as Saudi Arabia and Oman stopped importing chicken from the Kingdom due to health concerns. Recently, the two countries lifted their ban on the import of live chicks.
Hawamdeh said the surveillance takes random samples from poultry farms, domestic chickens and areas frequented by wild and migrant birds, and examines them at the ministry's labs.
"The surveillance is the first of its kind, but the ministry's agriculture departments regularly carries out inspections on chickens and birds in different regions to ensure the country is still free from the disease," Hawamdeh said.
He added that results of the surveillance will be sent to the Paris-based International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which will, in turn, announce that Jordan has carried out required field and scientific studies proving it is free from the disease.
The Kingdom is a member-state of OIE, whose mission is to improve animal health worldwide.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said it will continue its measures and the training of medical staff in preparation for any outbreak of avian influenza.
The ministry is carrying out training programmes and exercises for medics in Jerash that will gradually be provided to the rest of the country, director of the disease control department, Bassam Hijjawi, told The Jordan Times.
The official said the active surveillance forms a defensive line against the deadly disease, ensures that birds are safe and prevents the disease from advancing to phase four, where it is transmitted between humans.
Hana Namrouqa
? Jordan Times 2007