On March 21, the government of Pakistan confirmed the first two outbreaks of avian influenza in the country. Malaysia announced the detection of a third outbreak within a week. Previously, Egypt reported the third human case of bird flu.
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| Health workers culling chickens at a farm in Charsadda, Pakistan (Photo: TTO) |
The Pakistan Ministry of Agriculture stated that tests on samples conducted in the UK confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus at two farms in Charsadda and Abbottabad, located in the northwest of the country (which were detected last month). Approximately 25,000 birds have been culled. Since last week, the Pakistani government has banned the import of poultry from India and Iran, two neighboring countries that have reported the H5N1 virus at multiple farms.
Earlier, on March 20, the Malaysian government announced the discovery of a third outbreak within a week. Specifically, six dead birds tested positive for H5N1 in the village of Permatang Bagak, located in the northern state of Penang, Malaysia. A team of health specialists was dispatched to the village to cull all poultry in the area.
Meanwhile, a 30-year-old Egyptian woman has become the third victim of the H5N1 virus. The victim had raised chickens and had recently slaughtered them. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Health, the patient’s condition is stable. The second case involved a 30-year-old man working at a chicken farm in Qalyoubya province, northern Egypt.
DUC TRUONG
