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Baghdad, 31 Jan.
(AKI) - The Iraqi health ministry has acquired "ten
thousand doses of vaccine against the bird flu virus
on a preventative basis" according to ministry
sources.
Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan confirmed on Monday
that a teenage girl who died on 17 January was
killed by the lethal H5N1 virus, making her the
first human victim of bird flu in Iraq.
The Iraqi agriculture minister has meanwhile
announced "the launch of an integrated emergency
plan" to combat the spread of the avian influenza
virus. A state of emergency was declared in early
January in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the authorities
bought two million doses of bird flu vaccine.
The regional health ministry in Iraqi Kurdistan has
for some weeks been active in trying to curb bird
flu - creating mobile sanitary units, closing most
slaughter-houses, and disinfecting poultry farms -
but the Kurdish health minister, Jamal Abd al-Hamid
has been critical of the Iraq's central government
response to the bird flu threat
"The Iraqi government has not held any kind of
consultations with us on how to combat the disease,
although as soon as it broke out in Turkey, we took
steps to prevent its spread to Kurdistan - where
there have so far been no cases," he told the local
Nawa radio station two weeks ago
"I emphasise it must cooperate more with us to adopt
joint measures that will prevent the disease from
spreading," he said.
The WHO representative in Baghdad Nayma al-Qasir
said on Tuesday that "the WHO employees have started
to carry out medical checks in various province of
Iraq, especially in the north and the south."
Concern about the situation in Iraq mounted earlier
this year after four youngsters in neighbouring
Turkey were identified as having died from bird flu
- making them the first human victims outside
Europe.
www.adnki.com
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