October 26, 2005

Pakistan monitors poultry for signs of bird flu
 

Pakistan is closely watching its poultry and hundreds of birds are screened each day but there has been no evidence yet of bird flu, an official said Tuesday.

"We are monitoring poultry farms, domestic and wild birds," said Mohammed Afzal, a spokesman for the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock.

Between 400 and 500 birds have been screened in 13 state-run and several private laboratories across the country but "luckily we have not found bird flu," Afzal said.

Authorities carry out tests for bird flu on samples from poultry farms, domestic chickens and birds in the wildlife, Afzal said.

"Our effort is to isolate the virus whenever we find it," he said. "But we hope there will be no outbreak. We have asked poultry owners to be vigilant."

Pakistan has banned the import of poultry and poultry products from 14 countries with the ban on some countries' poultry dating back to 2003, Afzal said.

Croatia was added to the list Monday after some cases were reported there.

In 2003, between three million and four million chickens in Pakistan were "killed or culled" in an outbreak of H7N3 strain of flu, Afzal said.