Iraq's Kurds guard borders against bird flu 18.1.2006

"Strict orders were given to poultry farmers to install basins at the gates of their farms to decontaminate vehicules going in and out," said Afandi.


According to him, these measures are being carried out not just in the provinces of Arbil and Dohuk, which are under KDP control, but also in Suleimaniyah, the Kurdish rival run by the KDP's sometime rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The two provinces, which are close to the parts of Turkey that have reported cases of avian flu, are also major producers of eggs and poultry, supplying much of the Iraqi market.

"The virus ignores borders," emphasized Saman Halbaji, spokesman for the KDP's health department. "The disease could arrive with migratory birds, but fortunately so far not a single case has been detected" in Iraqi Kurdistan.

At Ibrahim al-Khalil's wintry frontier post, Kurdish border guards are careful to decontaminate the trucks that trundle across the border carrying Turkish goods into the country.

Dr Abdel Khaleq Abdel Sattar is the frontier post's veterinarian and he supervises the minute inspection of each vehicle and its cargo to make sure no birds are transported into the country.

"We are doing everything in our power to prevent the spread of the virus into Kurdistan," he said, admitting that he couldn't exclude the possibility of the virus appearing in Iraq.

Authorities have mobilized the media in a public awareness campaign in their fight against bird flu that uses television, radio and newspapers.

The message is simple and oft-repeated: in case of avian flu symptoms, such as the onset of fever, chills and wracking coughs, report to local health centers.

Housewives receive instructions of their own in these radio and television messages, and are told to cook chicken on a high heat of at least 80 degrees Celsius (176 Fahrenheight) before eating and to wash any eggs (as well as one's hands) with soap, according to World Health Organization guidelines.

The awareness campaign appears to be succeeding and the fear of the flu is palpable among the people, some of whom don't think authorities are doing enough to prevent its outbreak.

"The measures being taken are not enough and we are afraid the disease is going to break out," said Salima Ali, a 39-year-old Arbil housewife.

In Arbil, shops selling live chickens have been closed and shopkeepers have started complaining about a drop in demand for chickens and eggs--though no one could give any concrete figures.

Officials from the KDP and the PUK have formed a coordination committee for avian flu with the eventual goal of creating a single executive body for the whole northern autonomous region.

Scientists fear that the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance H5N1 will mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans. This could spark a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives.

AFP 

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