A total of 50,000 domestic birds will be culled in Jordan in a bid to stem
out the spread of bird flu, the Jordanian Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.
About 873 domestic birds in the central Jordan Valley have already been
slaughtered and deep buried, Jordan Valley Agriculture Department Director Najah
Masalhah said.
Expert teams from the ministries of agriculture and health started the
slaughtering of domestic birds in the bird flu-hit valley on Tuesday.
Jordan reported its first H5N1 bird flu outbreak on March 24 as four turkeys
died of the deadly virus on a farm in Ajloun, north of the capital Amman.
On March 31, the country reported its first human bird flu case of bird flu,
an Egyptian laborer who was believed to catch the disease during a trip back to
Egypt.
Bird flu, which is passing by migrating birds, is seen spreading in the
Middle East region where Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories have all
reported outbreaks this year. Over 100 people across the world have been killed
by the fatal H5N1 strain since its latest emerge in late 2003 in Asia.
Experts fear that bird flu, currently jumping from birds to humans through
close contact, might mutate into a form that can easily pass among humans and
spark a global epidemic that might kill millions.
