Deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu hits fourth province

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in a fourth province of Afghanistan amid fears of further possible outbreaks of the virus among the country’s destitute communities, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)confirmed on Monday. “According to the test results, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in the eastern Kapisa province,” Assadullah Azhari, FAO’s public information officer, said in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu, was first confirmed in March from six samples of birds in the capital and the eastern province of Nangarhar. The virus was also detected in central Logar province on 13 April. No human cases have been reported in the impoverished Central Asian state thus far. The FAO has received the results of tests on 103 samples, which were sent to the FAO reference laboratory in Padova, Italy, on 6 April 2006. Eastern Laghman and central Parwan provinces are temporarily classified as highly suspected; although consolidated conclusions on the status of these two provinces cannot be confirmed until further analyses and tests have been performed, according to Azhari. The FAO has called for strengthening surveillance capacities in the country and well-equipped emergency response teams to collect samples on the ground. “We are supporting initiatives to strengthen active surveillance to make sure that new outbreaks are identified promptly across the country,” Azhari noted. The government had earlier ordered an immediate culling of all chickens in the affected areas to prevent the deadly disease from spreading. “Our veterinary workers have culled about 15,000 fowl in 10 provinces of the country to control the spread of the disease,” said Azizullah Usmani, head of the agriculture ministry's veterinary department. Most were domestic chickens and turkeys being kept in backyards, he clarified. “We have already given some US $30,000 in compensation to the owners of birds culled by our vets in 10 provinces,” Usmani explained. The FAO had earlier warned that dealing with bird flu could be particularly difficult for destitute Afghanistan, as its public veterinary services remain weak, despite the fact that about 85 percent of its population lives in close contact with poultry, with most rural families having several chickens in their backyard. Since 2003, the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus has been detected in Europe, Africa and resurfaced in Asia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 176 cases of human bird flu have been registered to date, of whom some 100 cases have died.