Bird Flu Detected In Middle East
First Known Cases Of Disease Reported In Kuwait; Strain Unknown
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A Kuwaiti vendor displays ducks at marketplace in Kuwait City on Oct. 25, 2005. (Getty Images/Yasser Al-Zayyat)
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Chickens are sold at market Tuesday Nov. 8, 2005, in Shanghai. Wednesday, Premier Wen Jiabao warned that the country faces a serious threat from bird flu. (AP)
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A worker weighs chickens at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005. Veterinary students in some parts of Indonesia will begin testing backyard poultry flocks for bird flu this week. (AP)
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In this photo released by Ibaraki prefectural government, workers in protective gears prepare to slaughter live chickens at a farm where bird flu has been detected, in the village of Ogawa, Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, Monday, Nov. 7, 2005. (AP)
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The H5N1 strain has devastated poultry stocks and killed more than 60 people in Asia. It has generated fears of a pandemic if it mutates into a version that can be passed among humans. The H5N2 strain is a mild variant that is believed to cause little illness.
"We are satisfied with our tests, and we find no need for further investigations," al-Mihana said.
Al-Mihana said it was not necessary to conduct a wide cull of birds in Kuwait, but the authority has intensified its watch of poultry farms.
No humans in Kuwait have complained of bird flu symptoms, he added.
A member of the state's contingency committee for bird flu said there was no spread of the disease. Ahmed al-Shatti said the government will report the two cases to the World Animal Health Organization, rather than the World Health Organization, because no human cases are suspected.
"We wouldn't be involved at all until there is a human case," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson told the AP in Geneva.
Last month, Kuwait said it had earmarked $17 million to buy drugs to combat bird flu.
The entire Middle East region has been worried about possible outbreaks because the region sits on important bird migratory routes. Jordan and Israel are among other countries taking precautions.
Officials in the United Arab Emirates also have said they are highly concerned about bird flu appearing there.
The Kuwaiti government has banned the import of wild birds from all countries, plus poultry from infected states. The ban include "water and land" birds as well as pet and exotic ones.
Despite the ban, birds continue to arrive at the airport, where they are quarantined and tested. The infected peacock was one such bird.
The disease has so far spread to several Asian countries as well as to Croatia, Romania and Turkey.
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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