Bird flu under control, say WHO officials

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that avian flu infections were under control in Iraq and that prevention programmes have achieved results.

“The dangerous situation…is under control, due to the good partnership that the Iraqi government has developed with us,” said Dr Naeema al-Ghasser, spokeswoman for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. “Poultry is safe for consumption in Iraq, but families should cook the birds well.”

According to al-Ghasser, two human deaths from bird flu have been confirmed in Iraq since January. Meanwhile, more than 30 other blood samples, tested in WHO laboratories in Cairo and London, have yielded negative results.

In an effort to staunch the spread of the disease, prevention programmes have been developed by the WHO in tandem with prevention drives by the ministries of health and agriculture. US $35 million has been allocated by the government to be used for prevention and awareness programmes and to compensate farmers who had have had poultry culled.

The WHO, meanwhile, has spent more than US $1 million on prevention programmes, laboratory tests, health training and supplies of Tamiflu.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, more than 2 million heads of poultry, including chicken and ducks, have been culled, while the testing of blood samples continues. “We reported nearly 15 cases of the virus in poultry countrywide since January,” said Ahmed Ammar, a senior ministry official. “But we’re happy that, for weeks now, the results have been negative.”

Al-Ghasser noted that the main concern now was over regions frequented by migratory birds.

In the interim, the WHO is working with at least 20 volunteers and an adviser in each governorate of Iraq. In addition, over the past two weeks, the WHO has offered training in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to more than 50 Iraqis from the bird flu prevention programme.

“We’re very happy with the general results of all these efforts,” said al-Ghasser.

Health ministry officials added that hospitals in Iraq have not reported any suspected cases of the H5N1 virus for more than 10 days.