October 24, 2005

 

African nations act to prevent bird flu
 

 

A number of African nations have stepped up preparations against bird flu Friday, with Kenya warning the public that infections could be spread during the slaughter, de-feathering and butchering of poultry.

 

Kenya's public information campaign began as neighbouring Uganda banned the import of all poultry and products and Rwanda prepared to follow suit. The African nations are reacting to threats of the H5N1 strain of bird flu hitting the region that lie along the pathways of migratory birds from South-east Asia, where the infection began.

 

Now the migratory birds that are believed to have brought the H5N1 strain to Europe are headed across the Middle East and into Africa.

 

"Things are serious and we are totally stopping imports of poultry and poultry products until the situation normalizes," said William Olaho, Uganda's director of animal resources and disease prevention in the ministry for agriculture, animal industry and fisheries.

 

Wednesday, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said that the risk of bird flu spreading to the Middle East and Africa has markedly increased, and that it was worried Africa may be poorly prepared to deal with an outbreak.

 

Experts worry that the spread of the deadly strain of bird flu to Africa could be devastating because outbreaks are likely to be poorly reported, poorly managed, and where close contact between humans and animals will drastically increase the chances of a lethal mutation.

 

"We have strengthened disease surveillance to watch out for the flu virus if it was to appear anywhere (in Kenya)," said James Nyikal, Kenya's director of medical service.

 

The ministry of health has also strengthened its laboratory capacity to diagnose the disease and officials have alerted hospitals to be ready to set up isolation units should bird flu hit the region. Authorities have also ordered protective gear for those who will be involved in efforts to combat the infection, Nyikal told The Associated Press Television News.

 

"We have also prepared screening tools and developed surveillance systems that we can activate at airports as soon as we have evidence (of human-to-human transmission), Nyikal said.

 

In neighbouring Tanzania, health officials have also began warning the public against the threat posed by the feared bird flu epidemic.

 

In February 2004, Tanzania banned the importation of poultry and its products from countries affected by bird flu.

 

"We are alerting people in wetlands and elsewhere that migratory birds are carriers and they should not get in contact with them," said Charles Nyamrunda, acting permanent secretary in Tanzania's ministry of water and livestock development.

 

"Through the media, people are aware that the infection could be fatal. Not everybody, of course is aware," he said.

 

Tanzanian officials are reluctant to vaccinate poultry in areas frequented by the migratory birds because this carries the risk of introducing the virus to the local bird population, Nyamrunda said, adding that officials are prepared to cull birds that could be infected by the flu.

 

In the central African nation of Rwanda, officials are preparing to ban poultry imports beginning next week, said Theogene Rutagwenda, the director of the Rwanda Animal Development Authority.

 

Rwanda banned importation of poultry from Asia and Europe in May 2005 due to bird flu fears.

 

"We included Europe too since we had no means of verifying whether poultry from Europe had not actually been imported from Asia," Rutagwenda told The AP. "Even regionally, while we haven't yet announced a ban, we have heavily cut down importation over the last months."

 

Most poultry imports in Rwanda are day-old chicks. The ban has led to shortages of poultry products in the country. "But we have tried to increase our production to ease the shortage," he said.