EGYPT: Human bird-flu deaths prevalent among breeders, says health ministry
CAIRO, 8 May (IRIN) - Human deaths caused by the potentially pathogenic avian virus H5N1 have resulted mostly from exposure to infected fowl kept domestically, according to a health ministry statement issued following a meeting of the Supreme National Committee to Combat Bird Flu.
“There were 11 cases that resulted from domestic breeding,” read the statement. “Only two cases have been the result of labour in poultry farms.”
The committee, which met on 6 May under the auspices of Minister of Environment Maged George, urged all those exposed to potentially infected poultry to “take the necessary precautions” when dealing with fowl.
However, the government does not intend to extend an urban ban on domestic breeding – introduced soon after the first reports of poultry infections – to rural areas, according to health ministry media official Sayyid al-Abbasi. “It remains an impracticable measure, in that the livelihoods of many rural Egyptians depend on domestic breeding,” he said.
Sources used in this Avian influenza story: