November 11, 2005

Kuwait reports first possible bird flu case

In Kuwait, a senior official said the country had found two cases of bird flu but was still conducting tests to determine whether they were the deadly H5N1 strain or a weaker variation.

The first case was an imported bird found at the Kuwait City airport, while the second was a migrating wild fowl found on a beach, said Sheik Fahd Salem Al-Ali Al Sabah, the chairman of Kuwait's Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries.

Dr Mohammed al-Mihana of the Public Authority told The Associated Press that tests indicated the strain was H5, but it was not determined whether it was N1 or N2. The H5N2 strain is believed to cause little illness.