December 21, 2004

Bird Flu Scare in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has culled 100 chickens and sent tissue samples abroad for bird flu testing. This precautionary measure comes after eight people died from a flu-like virus.

Initial tests conducted in Sri Lanka returned negative for avian flu, which has never previously been detected in the Indian Ocean island.

"Two patients tested positive for influenza B and one for influenza A, but there is nothing to indicate that the patients are infected with the bird flu or influenza H5N1," Doctor Nihal Abeysinghe, an epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health told reporters in Colombo.

More than fifty people were receiving treatment in hospitals along the country's southern coastal belt for severe respiratory difficulties, which medical experts suspect is a variation of viral influenza, officials said.

"A team of veterinarians visited the village where two deaths were reported and there was a chicken farm nearby. The team suggested we cull the birds as a precautionary measure," Dr. Abeysinghe said.

The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus hit other countries in Asia this year and killed 20 Vietnamese and 10 Thais.