Iraq’s Health Minister Abdul Mutalib Ali Mohammed announced that a 15-year-old girl died two weeks ago in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah due to H5N1 avian influenza infection.
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Iraqi staff collecting poultry for disposal. (Photo: AFP/VNE) |
Initial tests by the World Health Organization indicated that the girl was not infected. However, subsequent testing in Iraq returned positive results for the H5N1 virus. The WHO stated that further testing would continue in the UK.
The girl, named Shangen Abdul Qader, died after experiencing typical respiratory symptoms of a disease that has claimed at least 85 lives since 2003.
Yesterday, Iraqi officials reported that 12 other individuals suspected of H5N1 infection are being treated in Kurdistan, northern Iraq. A 54-year-old woman in the town of Raniya is the most serious case among them.
A council has been established to prevent the outbreak of the avian flu virus. They have begun culling poultry in the northern areas of Sulaymaniyah near Dukan Lake, in Raniya, and northern Erbil. The WHO will also send a team of experts today. Raniya is located near the Turkish border, where four individuals have died from avian influenza.
No cases of avian influenza have been detected in poultry flocks in Iraq so far, but all deaths reported are believed to be due to contact with infected birds.
M.T. (according to BBC, Washington Post)
