Reem Leila reports on the latest incidents of avian flu So far this month the H5N1 virus has claimed the life of a 21-year-old woman from Menoufiya. Egypt's tenth fatality this year, says the Ministry of Health, had regularly come into direct contact with infected poultry. Despite being hospitalised, placed on a ventilator and treated with Tamiflu, the patient's illness was in such an advanced stage when she arrived at the hospital that she could not survive. During a press conference attended by Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ayman Abu Hadid, Minister of Local Development Mohsen El-Nomani and 10 governors, Minister of Health and Population Ashraf Hatem announced that bird flu virus had peaked in the last six months. "Since the beginning of 2011 there have been 29 confirmed cases of H5N1 infection in addition to the 10 fatalities, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since February 2006 to 147 of which 49, or 33 per cent, failed to survive the deadly virus," said Hatem. In 2010 there were 16 reported cases of bird flu virus. "The increasing rate," said Hatem, "is due to laxity in enforcing laws on breeding live poultry, especially in rural areas." Speaking to the press, Abu Hadid conceded that it had proved impossible to halt the keeping of poultry in rural areas. Instead, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, was adopting a different approach. "The ministry has initiated a new programme, 'Safe breeding of Poultry at Home', which offers training on best practice as well as providing vaccine for chicks," he said. Hatem also unveiled a three-year plan developed by the Supreme Committee for Combating Bird Flu in cooperation with the General Authority for Veterinary Services and the Animal Health Research Institute. Under the scheme all concerned authorities will be committed to guaranteeing better reporting of cases and to ensuring that poultry is immunised on schedule. In its first phase, the plan will focus on immunising poultry in the 16 governorates with the highest infection rates. Farm owners will be obliged to dispose of dead birds on daily basis by approved means, and to immediately report any cases of infection to their local veterinary unit. Up to 12,000 veterinarians will participate in the plan, inspecting hygiene regimes at 16,000 farms. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation issued a report estimating that it will take 10 years to eradicate bird flu virus from the six countries -- Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam -- where the nature of production and market chains, life style and quality of veterinary services, allowed it to become endemic. According to the report, while the H5N1 strain has been reported in 60 countries since it was first identified in 2006, the vast majority prevented it from becoming established. The H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed 320 people worldwide since 2006.
