ISLAMABAD, 24 May 2007 — Pakistani authorities have discovered the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at three poultry farms on the outskirts of Islamabad and culled nearly 10,500 chickens, an official said yesterday.

Pakistan first detected the H5N1 strain of the virus in early 2006 in North West Frontier Province and about 40,000 birds were culled. Pakistan has had no human cases.

Farm owners Raja Haroon and Rana Mubashir told Arab News they culled more than 11,000 birds in Chak Shehzad alone.

Samples were collected on Monday after about 2,500 birds died on the three farms last week. The samples tested positive for the H5N1 strain, said Food and Agriculture Ministry official Rafiq-ul-Hassan Usmani.

“We took action on Tuesday and killed the remaining birds on the three farms which had some 13,000 chickens before the virus struck,” Usmani said.

Poultry has been culled on several small farms this year after the virus was found and authorities briefly shut Islamabad Zoo in February after four peacocks and a goose died of the H5N1 strain. Usmani said authorities were investigating the new cases to see if the farm owners ignored instructions to vaccinate their birds. “We are keeping a close watch and there is no cause of concern,” he said.

Wheat Export Suspended

The Economic Coordination Committee yesterday decided to suspend export of wheat with immediate effect in view of the increase in the price of the commodity in the domestic market. The decision to suspend the export of wheat was taken after a detailed review of the wheat situation in the country.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who presided over the meeting, said the country had a bumper wheat crop this year and increase in the price of the commodity was unacceptable. He said hoarding of wheat and manipulation of the market would not be tolerated. The ECC directed the provincial governments to monitor the supply and price situation.

The ECC also reviewed the overall energy supply and demand situation and approved the recommendations of the Ministry of Water & Power for making amendments to the power policy to facilitate more power generation projects.