Tests confirm deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu

The deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza has been confirmed in Afghanistan in six samples of birds, a UN-government joint statement said on Thursday.

The samples were taken from birds found in the Dasht-e-Barchi district of the capital, Kabul, and from the eastern Nangarhar province. A further six samples from Kandahar province in the south and Kondoz province in the north tested negative. All samples were tested at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) laboratories in the Italian city of Padua, the statement said.

The government of Afghanistan has ordered an immediate slaughter of chickens in affected areas to avoid the deadly disease spreading.

“Bird flu remains confined to the bird population, with no human cases reported. Nonetheless, it is imperative that the human population is protected," the government and the United Nations stressed in its statement.

“Markets selling poultry and poultry products will be closed and disinfected and compensation arrangements are in place for farmers affected by the culling of their birds,” Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for the health ministry, told IRIN.

Fahim said lack of public awareness about the disease was a great problem and the government was planning to conduct a massive campaign to educate people about the realities of the virus.

“We are planning to carry out a countrywide awareness campaign on avian influenza from next week,” Fahim noted, adding the health ministry had already trained 300 medical personnel to deal with any human cases of the H5N1 strain.

The FAO had earlier warned that bird flu could be particularly hard for destitute Afghanistan to deal with as its public veterinary services are still weak and about 85 percent of the population lives in close contact with poultry, with most rural families having several chickens in the backyard.

The H5N1 strain of the deadly bird flu virus has spread into Europe, Africa and resurfaced in Asia. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that 176 people have been infected with bird flu around the world since 2003 and that 98 have died.