Bird-flu awareness drive stepped up following human case

Two days after news of Jordan’s first human case of bird flu, the national communications committee on avian influenza met on Monday to intensify public awareness campaigns about the disease. An Egyptian national who contracted the virus in Egypt before returning to Jordan for work reportedly bred poultry and had slaughtered birds infected with avian flu. He was diagnosed on March 31 with the human strain of the virus, according to Ministry of Health officials, and is currently in stable condition. The H5N1 virus is contracted through contact with infected birds and not from cooked poultry. There are so far no reports of human-to-human transmission of the disease. Dr Ali Odatallah, a public health officer at the Department of Disease Control, said that the communications committee – which includes representatives of the media, education and religious institutions – is currently preparing material about bird flu. "Every Friday, a lot of people attend prayers at the mosque, which is why it’s important to have religious leaders present in the committee,” said Odatallah. “The information disseminated will describe what avian flu is, how to prevent it, collect information and notify the proper authorities." According to Odatallah, there are no travel or transport restrictions on domestic birds and poultry. However, the government has banned all poultry imports from countries that have detected cases of the flu. "We’re watching our borders and imports from infected countries are prohibited," said Faisal Awawdeh, the assistant secretary-general for livestock affairs at the Ministry of Agriculture. Cases of avian influenza have appeared in the region with growing frequency, with reports of infection emerging from Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Odatallah noted that the governments of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have committed to exchanging information and support. According to officials, there have been no new cases of avian flu found in local poultry since Jordan’s first reported case on 24 March. Since then, some 20,000 birds have been culled in the infected area of Ajloun, north of the capital. Odatallah added that the government had trained lab technicians and had administered tests for the human strain of avian influenza to hospitals throughout the country. Currently, there are 20 medical facilities designated by the health ministry as capable of dealing with human cases. In addition to 60,000 doses of Tamiflu in stock, the government has begun negotiations to acquire an additional US $5 million worth of the antiviral drug, Odatallah said.