The Kenyan government is making all-round preparations for any
possible bird flu outbreak with measures including importing
protective clothing and disinfectants, an official in the Ministry
of Livestock and Fisheries told Xinhua Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview, Director of Veterinary Services
Joseph Musaa said that although the east African country has not
experienced any avian flu outbreak in the past, the level of
preparedness and experience in testing and surveillance is
high.
"We have not experienced avian flu, however, we have experience
in testing, diagnosis and surveillance for avian flu," Musaa
said.
Kenyan specialists are currently testing samples of some 400
dead domestic birds found dumped alongside a road in Nairobi last
Sunday, which heightened fears the country may be affected by the
current wave of avian flu spread, which has been reported in
Africa.
"Africa, like many developing countries, is in need of funds to
deal with special difficulties. Cultural practices like keeping of
birds in the same houses where people live increase the risk of
spread," Musaa said.
African poultry farmers are mostly small-scale growers who use
their houses to keep domestic birds. Their ability to deal with a
large scale outbreak of the dangerous virus would be perennially
below par compared to the commercialized farmers in Europe.
"Kenya has taken several steps in preparing for the bird flu.
Surveillance of wild and domestic birds for early detection of the
avian flu is already taking place," Musaa said.
Authorities fear an outbreak could have far reaching impacts on
the fledgling economy of the country, whose chicken industry,
spurring growth in the fastest growing food chain industry, is
currently valued at 5 billion shillings (US$70 million).
Kenya lies along a major flight path of migratory wild birds
from eastern Europe and Asia, a factor the United Nations and World
Health Organization (WHO) think puts several east African states at
a critical risk of an outbreak of the virus.
In October, Kenya banned poultry imports from affected nations
in a move to curb the entry of the virus.
"Poultry keepers will lose millions of dollars if bird flu is
discovered in Kenya. They will also lose cheap source of protein
and the risk of a rapid spread to humans is also real," Musaa said,
highlighting the need for global cooperation against the flu.
Kenyan officials say the country is collaborating with the
international community in the implementation of the WHO, World
Organization on Animal Health and Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) guidelines on emergency preparedness and responses.
"Kenya has prepared an action plan and is following these
guidelines and all activities being undertaken are in line with
them," Musaa said, adding that the country also participated in
regional brainstorming meetings to counter the bird flu threat.
"We collaborate with reference laboratories for the diagnosis of
avian flu," Musaa said.
Health experts said, with the influenza surveillance network set up
four years ago, the Kenyan Health Ministry has been able to access
rapid and accurate estimates on areas of flu circulation all over
the country.
The FAO has warned that an earlier outbreak of the deadly bird
flu virus in Nigeria shows that the rest of Africa is in danger
from the disease, calling for urgent action to stop the spread of
the virus.
Since December 2003, the H5N1 virus is known to have infected
173 people, of whom 93 have died.
So far, the virus has only spread from infected animals to
humans, but the WHO has warned that it could change into a form
that spreads easily from person to person, triggering an influenza
pandemic that could kill tens of millions of people worldwide.
(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2006)
