ISLAMABAD (January 27 2004): Federal Ministry of Health on Monday directed all the concerned departments to take preventive measures to cope with 'bird flu,' which reportedly hit Karachi.

Matiullah Jan, spokesman for the health ministry, told Business Recorder that the 'Bird Flu' has not infected any human in Pakistan and all the veterinary hospitals have been put on high alert to control the disease immediately.

He was of the view that authorities were holding emergency meetings with poultry breeders to arrange the destruction of infected flocks of chickens and vaccinations of others.

Since November, some 3.5 million chickens had died on 3,000 farms in Karachi, Pakistan Poultry Association claimed.

But Matiullah Jan said common illnesses were responsible for most of the deaths, with bird flu responsible only for a few thousand.

He said the health ministry is considering establishing a special team of the veterinary experts in National Institute of Health (NIH) to counter the emergency-like situation.

The influenza has been identified as H7 and H9, strains, which are said to be less dangerous than H-5N1, which afflicted Southeast Asia.

An agriculture ministry official said there was no evidence that the strains found in Pakistan had spread to humans.

Since November, between 1.5 million and 3.5 million chickens have died in Sindh province, but authorities say only a few thousand were from avian flu.

The outbreak of deadly disease has triggered alarm across the country due to which sharp declining trend was recorded in the prices of poultry meat and people were taking care to avoid using poultry.

The price of chicken in the federal capital on Monday was Rs 40/kg and chicken meat was Rs 70/kg, which rapidly reducing from Rs 5 to Rs 10 daily as the residents are very much scared of the epidemic.

AFP ADDS: The H7 and H9 strains do not transmit to humans, according to the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (Parc).

"Our initial findings confirmed that it is H7 and H9 virus which has infected birds in Karachi," senior Parc researcher Mohammad Afzal told AFP, adding that samples had been sent overseas for further confirmation. "Luckily this kind of virus does not transmit to humans from chickens."

There was "a rare chance" it could transform into a more fatal strain in the H5 category "which usually breaks the species barrier," Afzal added.

Courtesy Business Recorder