April 28, 2006

Dead poultry in Kazakhstan does not have bird flu

Poultry that died this week in central Kazakhstan did not have bird flu as initially suspected, the country's chief epidemiologist said Thursday (Apr 27).

Emergency officials said Wednesday that early tests had revealed antibodies for bird flu in the ten dead hens, one live hen and one duck in the village of Krasnaya Niva in the Karaganda region.

But Kenes Ospanov, the chief doctor at the National Sanitary and Epidemiological Centre, said Thursday that the initial diagnosis was incorrect.

"The birds died of something else. For today, there is no bird flu in Kazakhstan," he said.

Last month, Kazakhstan recorded its first case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which can be deadly for humans in a dead swan that was found on the Caspian Sea coast. Authorities ordered the vaccination of other birds in the coastal area.

The Central Asian nation bordering China has equipped labs and trained experts to conduct preliminary tests of any reported poultry illnesses. The nation had its first detected outbreak of bird flu last July, but it was not the H5N1 strain.