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| April 29, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 30, 1427 |
No confirmed case of human bird flu
ISLAMABAD, April 28: Minister for Health Mohammad Nasir Khan on Friday informed the National Assembly that there was no confirmed case of bird flu virus in humans anywhere in the country and poultry products were safe for human consumption.
In a statement in the upper house of parliament, he said that since February, when the first case of bird flu was reported in poultry farms in Charsadda and Abottabad, no case of avian influenza had been confirmed among humans.
The minister said that so far 32 samples had been sent for medical tests and all of them have been cleared.
He said all birds had been culled in and around three kilometres of poultry farms where bird flu had been found, adding that strict monitoring had been done in an area of seven kilometres around the poultry farms to control the spread of the disease.
Referring to the bird flu case in two poultry farms in Charsadda and Abbottabad, he said that the government had taken immediate steps to control spread of the disease, adding that poultry workers had been isolated and shifted to hospitals for tests. He said that all of them were found to be in good health.
He said the National Institute of Health (NIH) had cleared poultry workers in farms in Sihala, Tarlai and Banni Gala after conducting exhaustive tests.
The minister said that special isolation centres had been set up in all government hospitals while necessary medicines and equipment had been made available to cope with any eventuality.
Nasir Khan said that there was no ban on the use of poultry products in official meetings.
He said that a compensation formula was being formulated to support the domestic poultry industry.—APP
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