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SULAIMANIYAH,
Kurdistan-Iraq, Feb 8, 2006 (AFP) - 15h11 - With
their major city under threat, Kurdish officials are
working hard to head off a bird flu epidemic,
resorting to both Europe and the black market to buy
the life-saving medicines.
"We're flying blind. We don't have the necessary lab
equipment to diagnose the disease -- the analysis is
being done abroad and takes 15 days," admitted
Mohammed Khushnow, the top health official in
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan (northeast Iraq).
According to Khushnow, aside from the two confirmed
human deaths from bird flu in Iraqi Kurdistan, six
people are suspected of being infected by the flu,
of which one or two might have the H5N1 deadly
strain.
On Tuesday, he told AFP of four such patients in the
hospital.
Unease is high throughout Sulaiymaniyah, a city of
an estimated one million people which, together with
its outlying areas in a 15-kilometer (nine-mile)
radius, has been designated a high-risk zone.
The anxiety is sharpest around the picturesque Lake
Darbandikhan, 80 kilometers southeast of the city,
which is used as a stopover by tired migrating
birds.
The culling of birds around the city began last week
in Tass Louja, just 15 kilometers away, and will
soon move right into Sulaimaniyah and "no family
will be in contact with living birds," said Tahseen
Nameq, head of a high committee set up to fight bird
flu.
The mountainous area of Raniya, along the borders of
Iran and Turkey, where the deadly disease first
appeared, is surrounded by a cordon and three spots
inside the area have been identified by health
officials as being affected.
Inside these zones, authorities are in the process
of "exterminating domestic birds, disinfecting
suspect areas, ... chicken coops, and setting up
checkpoints to sanitize any cars passing through the
zone," said Nameq.
The areas of Raniya and Qalaat Diza have been
entirely cleaned, but more needs to be done in Dukan,
a resort area, health officials say.
In the areas declared clear, domestic fowl undergo
regular tests and if any of these turn out to be
positive, the sector is isolated and all birds
eliminated in a 1.2 kilometer radius, while
neighboring areas are put under surveillance.
Kurdish authorities are fighting the virus with
whatever means they have at hand, while lacking
modern laboratory material, and their efforts are
largely restricted to the use of disinfectants.
"We have bought anti-viral drugs on the European
black market, paying four times the official price,"
said Khushnow.
But in early February, the World Health Organisation
said Iraq is to receive thousands of doses of the
anti-influenza drug Tamiflu to help fight off the
spread of bird flu.
The Kurdish anti-flu teams, meanwhile, who are in
almost daily contact with the disease, are going to
battle with jumpsuits that are not completely
waterproof and synthetic gloves hurriedly purchased
on the local market.
Khushnow said the region needs experienced
epidemiologists and vets as well as a molecular
workstation which can "analyze all the various types
of bird flu and determine their type", deadly or
not.
Meanwhile, anyone who initially tests positive for
the disease is kept under surveillance at the
hospital.
"We don't want to take any risks. A sick person
showing certain symptoms and who was in contact with
birds is immediately hospitalized," said Khushnow.
The campaign, which is entirely locally financed, is
at risk of draining the budget of the regional
Kurdish administration and having serious economic
repercussions.
"We are the primary providers of eggs and chickens
to Iraq, and currently, all deliveries have been
suspended, costing us five million dollars so far,"
said Nameq.
He said the Kurdish authorities have already taken a
million dollars each from their agricultural and
health budgets to meet the expenses of fighting the
disease.
AFP
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