JEDDAH, 14 October 2005 — With the confirmation of potentially deadly bird flu cases in Turkey and Romania, Saudi officials are taking necessary measures to prevent the virus from entering the country. Turkey culled birds in large numbers to combat the outbreak that was confirmed yesterday as being lethal. Ankara confirmed the virus was the highly dangerous H5NI strain that has killed more than 60 people in Asia.
According to Al-Watan newspaper, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Al-Sheeha said the Kingdom had banned imports of poultry from Romania. Saudi Arabia has already banned importing frozen and live poultry from East Asian countries.
Last week the Ministry of Agriculture announced an emergency plan for preventing the outbreak of bird flu that includes banning poultry imports from countries confirmed to have the virus.
The plan also stipulates regular surveys of poultry farms and checking of migratory birds. If a case is confirmed, the plan envisages destroying the infected birds and others in contact with them as well as quarantining the area.
Officials at the Ministry of Health are taking measures to prevent the entry of the virus with the cooperation of various agencies especially now that Umrah pilgrims are streaming in from Asian countries. “We are taking precautions against different contagious diseases that have appeared in countries around the world this year,” said Abdul Ghani Al-Malki, director of health supervisory center at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah. For example, there have been confirmed cases of yellow fever in Burkina Faso; cholera in Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal as well as Iran and Afghanistan; meningitis in several African countries including Sudan, Eritrea and Nigeria.
All these are dangerous diseases that need to be monitored and detected to prevent their spread. As for bird flu, officials are aware of its presence in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. “Our team of infectious disease supervisors are at all arrival terminals of Saudi and international airlines and Haj terminals.
Extreme monitoring of arrivals from the infected countries is conducted and immediate notification is made to Health Affairs Department of any suspected case. Necessary treatment is given — whether antibiotics or antiviral vaccination,” Al-Malki told Arab News. Also, there is warning to passengers coming from affected countries not to bring food containing any kind of frozen or live birds, added Al-Malki. “We explain the importance of these precautionary procedures to the arriving passengers and help them through it,” he said.
Al-Madinah newspaper reported that GCC countries intend to hold a meeting soon to coordinate efforts for preventing the virus from reaching the region. There is already coordination with world health organizations and animal organizations.
Meanwhile, UN officials are exploring ways to speed up production of a vaccine in case bird flu mutates and causes a human flu pandemic.
David Nabarro, the UN coordinator for avian and human influenza, has said it will take six months to build up a stockpile of vaccines, but health authorities are worried that amount of time might be too long if a pandemic flu strain emerges.
