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BAGHDAD, 6 Feb
(IRIN) - Farmers from the northern Sulaimaniyah
governorate are requesting compensation from the
Kurdish government for losses incurred by the
culling of fowl, undertaken to prevent the spread of
avian influenza.
“We’re aware of the bird flu situation in Iraq, but
our livelihoods are related to those birds,” said
Omar Diar, a local farmer from Sulaimaniyah, which
is located some 380 km north of the capital,
Baghdad.
“We urgently ask the government to compensate us so
we can support our families,” he added.
Ever since a teenage girl died from the so-called
“bird flu” in mid-January, more than 900,000 chicken
and migratory birds have been culled by the regional
ministries of agriculture and health, Diar
explained.
Chicken farming is the primary source of income for
hundreds of farmers in the region.
On 4 February, after a peaceful demonstration by
over 200 local farmers in the streets of
Sulaimaniyah, Imad Ahmed, deputy prime minister of
the regional government, promised compensation “very
soon” for those affected.
How much money will be provided – and when – remains
unclear, however.
“A committee will be formed this week to study each
case and record the losses of each farmer,” said
Juan Kader, a senior official in the Kurdistan
Ministry of Agriculture.
“We won’t allow farmers to forfeit their rights, but
swift measures are needed to prevent further spread
of the disease.”
Kader added that over 600,000 birds had been culled
to date in areas around Sulaimaniyah and nearby
Arbil.
On 2 February, the World Health Organization (WHO)
announced that samples from a 15-year-old girl who
died on 17 January in Sulaimaniyah from respiratory
disease had been confirmed by a UK laboratory as
Iraq’s first human case of the virus.
“We regrettably announce that the first bird flu
case in Iraq is totally certain,” said WHO
spokeswoman Maria Cheng in Geneva.
Samples from two other suspected cases are also
scheduled to be analysed by the WHO in London. One
is the uncle of the dead girl, who died on 27
January of similar symptoms. The other is a
54-year-old woman currently being treated for
respiratory illness in Sulaimaniyah.
A further 12 people are also being treated for
suspected infections in Sulaimaniyah and Arbil.
Birds from Baghdad and Kurdistan are also being
tested. Duhok, one of Kurdistan’s most populous
cities, and located close to the Turkish border
where 12 cases of bird flu have been recorded, is
also a major transit route for migratory birds.
So far, however, the virus has not been found in any
birds, according to Diar.
Direct contact with infected poultry, or objects
contaminated by their faeces, is considered the
primary means of human bird flu infection, according
to the WHO.
To date, most human cases have occurred in rural
areas where households often keep poultry.
www.irinnews.org
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