Epidemics and diseases in Egypt were top of the agenda of the Cabinet's meeting yesterday. The Cabinet, under Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, was like a "council of health affairs," well-informed sources said. The meeting discussed a large number of reports on avian flu, swine flu, the plague (which appeared in Libya), and the foot and mouth disease in Sudan. Hatem el-Gabali, Minister of Health, reviewed a report on Egypt's health conditions. The report confirmed that Egypt was free of the plague thanks to the efforts that managed to prevent the infiltration of the disease into Egypt.
El-Gabali reviewed the measures taken on the western border, topped by the formation of a unit including 25 qualified doctors to examine those who travel from Libya to Egypt. The number of the confirmed cases of swine flu reached 41 until Wednesday afternoon. All of them came from abroad, especially from the United States. 28 cases have recovered and the others are still under treatment. The number of the confirmed cases of bird flu reached 81, including 27 deaths. Amin Abaza, Minister of Agriculture, said a herd of camels was imported from the Horn of Africa through Halaib and Shalatin. It, now in custody in the veterinary quarantine in Aswan, is not infected with foot and mouth disease. Analysis showed that some camels had antibodies, but they were not infected with foot and mouth disease, which did not reach Egypt until now. Abaza revealed a plan to take poultry farms out of the residential blocks in Delta within five years.
The teams on combating diseases began to spray and sterilize the hotbeds of rats, fleas and rodents. This comes within the framework of precautionary measures to combat the plague. Giza was the most serious Governorate in launching campaigns to annihilate rodents in Ard al-Lewa district, Giza villages and outskirts, and pig farms, which have a big quantity of garbage and a large number of rats. Al-Masry Al-Youm learnt that there are a large number of rats, weasels and insects in many parts of Greater Cairo, topped by Ezbat Khairallah district, which is fiercely attacked by rodents due to stopping the construction of the sewage project for twenty days. Therefore, all streets were filled with the sewage water. A statement by the World Health Organization's Regional Office in Cairo said the WHO received reports that 206 people have tested positive for swine flu in 13 Middle Eastern countries. Egypt is ranked second with 41 cases. It is followed by Saudi Arabia, 45; Kuwait, 26; Lebanon, 25; Bahrain, 15; Jordan, 15; Qatar, 10; Morocco, 9; Palestine, 8; Yemen, 6; Oman, 3; and Tunisia and the UAE, 2 each.
The bodies concerned at Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh airports declared a state of emergency to receive the delegations of 118 countries to participate in the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
