North Africa Gears Up For Bird Flu Threat
Date: 02-Dec-05
Country: MOROCCO
Author: David Evans
The main threat is seen as coming early next year when migratory birds return from other parts of the continent.
The H5N1 bird flu strain is known to have killed almost 70 people in Asia and experts fear it may now be spread to Africa by birds flying from Russia.
"Bird flyways from Russia and central Europe take them to eastern and central Africa. It is there that they could mix with other birds that would be heading back to North Africa in the spring," said Mohamed El Haouadfi, professor of avian pathology at Rabat's Hassan II Agronomy and Veterinary Institute.
"We have a few months to prepare," he told Reuters.
Billions of birds migrate to Africa every year in search of warmer climates. Birds from Russia fly via eastern Europe and congregate in areas like the Rift Valley in East Africa.
Migratory birds from western Europe, where there have been no major H5N1 bird flu cases, use Morocco and Algeria as staging posts in their flight south.
"Algeria is crossed by flows coming from western Europe," said Abdesselem Chelghoum, secretary general at the Algerian agriculture ministry.
BACKYARD FARMS
Moroccan authorities fear that the large number of backyard farms, as in other parts of Africa, makes the country particularly vulnerable if bird flu takes hold.
Backyard farms in Asia have been one reason why the virus has become in endemic there and caused so many human cases.
Morocco has a total poultry flock approaching 200 million birds, including 16 million egg-laying hens.
Most are kept enclosed in industrial breeding houses, which are strictly controlled. However, some 30 million are in local smallholdings, where they live in close proximity to people.
"This is the real problem for us and there's no easy answer to controlling the disease there," El Haouadfi said.
The government has also been building stocks of anti-viral treatments to help deal with any eventual mutation of the H5N1 strain into one that can be passed easily between humans.
Experts fear that if this happens, it could unleash an influenza pandemic potentially killing millions of people.
But the focus of Morocco's plan is on stopping the virus spreading among poultry. Some 60 sites, mostly lakes and wetlands, have been identified as potential "hotspots" for infected migratory birds.
Any dead birds found at these sites are tested. None so far has any shown signs of the H5N1 strain.
Live bird imports from infected countries have been banned.
El Haouadfi said compensation would be made available to farmers for any culled birds, otherwise they may be reluctant to come forward in reporting cases.
Algeria, with 130 million chickens, has also put plans in place. The agriculture ministry will distribute information notes to breeders and the general public on its potential arrival, state news agency APS said.
"Prevention is the main measure. We're focused on banning imports of some avian products and birds," Chelghoum said.
