Bird flu cases reported in southern Sudan
Pastor Dale Morgan
Bird flu cases reported in southern Sudan
*13 Sep 2006 15:15:11 GMT
Source: Reuters
JUBA, Sudan, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The authorities in southern Sudan have
found the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in chickens in southern Sudan, a
local official said on Wednesday.
Louis Morris Kyanga, who handles community relations for the southern
Sudanese government's animal resources and fisheries department, said
samples taken from the birds in August had proven positive for the virus.
"Samples were ... sent to Khartoum, then to the United Kingdom for
further tests. On August 30, we received the tests. All the samples
proved to be positive (for H5N1)," he told reporters in the southern
capital Juba.
Sudan reported outbreaks of bird flu in Khartoum and Jazeera provinces
in the north in April.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation says on its Web site that the last
outbreak in Sudan was in that same month. Sudanese government officials
said they had eradicated the virus.
Kyanga said his department received more complaints on Sept. 9 of death
and sickness among domestic birds including duck but the test results
for those cases were not yet ready.
"A surveillance team has been sent and there are checkpoints in three
places in town to prevent the movement of birds from one place to
another," he added.
The Ugandan newspaper New Vision said Ugandan medical personnel in
places close to southern Sudan were on high alert to detect any possible
outbreaks in the country. Juba lies about 110 km (70 miles) north of the
Ugandan border.
The disease, highly infectious among flocks of domestic flocks,
devastated the poultry industry in Egypt, Sudan's neighbour to the
north. The number of cases diminished in the summer but new cases came
to light in the last few weeks.
It has killed 143 people worldwide and caused the death and destruction
of millions of birds in Asia.