Bird Flu Cases Found in Saudi Arabia
Arab NewsRIYADH, 29 January 2006 — Saudi Arabia has culled 37 falcons after some of them tested positive to the H5 virus of the avian flu, the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.
A ministry team inspecting falcons kept in a veterinary center in Riyadh, which takes care of the birds that are usually used for hunting, discovered the cases, Saudi Press Agency quoted the ministry statement as saying.
The Arab News front-pages this article. If true, it suggests that the country had great luck in not getting it intermingled with the 2.5 million pilgrims who were in the country for the recently completed Haj. I’d like to see more verification of the story though.
This will be very upsetting though, and not just to the poultry business (a big business in the Kingdom). I suspect that large numbers of the population will be avoiding poulty in the markets for quite some time. I’ll try to get to a market later today–perhaps tomorrow–and see what’s going on.
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