Worries about the economic impact of bird flu

Initial tests on dead birds in Ethiopia last month have come back negative for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, but the country is now worried about the economic impact of the nationwide scare, the ministry of agriculture said on Thursday. Three weeks ago, Ethiopia sent samples to be tested in Italy after 6,090 chickens died of an unidentified disease within two weeks in a state-owned farm in the south. Preliminary tests in Ethiopia had indicated the presence of avian flu, but they could not confirm the strain of the disease. "From 14 samples sent to Italy, all of them reacted negative to the presence of H5N1," said Mesfin Suhle, head of the Ethiopian laboratory that carried out the first virology tests. "This does not exclude other sub-types," he told a news conference, adding that a second round of testing on new samples was underway. The 9,000 remaining chickens at the farm were incinerated, and the government banned movements of poultry products within a 60-km radius of the affected farm. "The presence of avian influenza has not yet been confirmed in Ethiopia, but the impact of the reports of the disease on the economy is already dramatic," said Seleshi Zewdie, director of the veterinary department at the ministry of agriculture. The bird flu scare sent the price of live hens falling to 5 birr (US 56 cents), nearly one-fifth of their original price. Many supermarkets stopped selling chicken because of falling demand, Seleshi said. Small-scale farmers had been worst hit by the crisis. "In Ethiopia, 98 percent of the poultry is owned by individual farmers in rural areas. So whatever happens to the poultry, it will immediately affect the rural poor. Their subsistence is dependent on the chicken meat [and] eggs," said Yilma Jobre, a representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation. A public-awareness programme was launched on Friday to allay fears caused by reports of bird flu. The country has between 35 million and 50 millions chickens, most of which are owned by peasant farmers, according to the government. Ethiopia - along with other East African Rift Valley nations such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda - is considered at high risk for the spread of the virus, as millions of migratory birds flock to the region during the European winter. Although the H5N1 strain does not spread easily between people, those who come into contact with sick birds could contract the disease.