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ETHIOPIA: Birds test negative for avian flu |
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 ADDIS ABABA, 20 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Birds that were suspected of having
contracted avian flu in Ethiopia have tested negative for the virus, an
agriculture official said on Tuesday.
"The results from the bird
flu tests we have carried out are negative," said Mulugeta Debalkew,
spokesman with the agriculture ministry in Addis Ababa.
"However, we are still remaining vigilant because of the potential
threat, and the ban on imports of poultry will remain in place for the
time being," he said.
Scientists had flown in from Egypt to
carry out the tests on more than a dozen samples because Ethiopia does
not have the proper equipment to check for avian flu.
The tests
revealed that the birds had died from Newcastle disease, which
according to the United States Department of Agriculture is one of the
most infectious poultry diseases in the world.
Newcastle disease
is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs.
A death rate of almost 100 percent can occur in unvaccinated poultry
flocks, and the disease is very common in Africa. It does not pose an
immediate danger to humans.
Tests were carried out on dead
birds from different areas in the country, including the capital, Afar
in the Rift Valley, and Somali Region, where several hundred dead birds
were found in late November. Fresh tests were also carried out on sick
birds.
The birds are being tested for the virulent H5N1 strain
of bird flu, which has devastated Asia's poultry flocks and killed at
least 62 people since 2003.
The dead birds - all nonmigratory
local pigeons - were discovered around drinking wells in Somali region
in eastern Ethiopia and at two separate locations in Addis Ababa.
Authorities
in Somali Region estimated that around 500 dead birds were found at
wells and water points in the Deger Bur area. Some 10 to 15 birds were
discovered at each site.
Experts believe that the Rift Valley
countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are at high risk for
avian flu outbreaks because millions of migratory birds fly south to
warmer climes during the European winter.
A government-led
taskforce in Ethiopia estimated that some US $53 million would be
needed to fight a possible pandemic of the H5N1 virus of avian flu that
affects humans.
Ethiopia's state news media announced on 1
December that the country was extending a ban imposed in October on the
import of all poultry products. A bird flu national task force with
technical committees was also established.
The UN has also set
up its own crisis management team for avian flu in Ethiopia and is in
the process of completing a contingency plan to deal with a potential
outbreak.
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