The U.A.E. is on high bird flu alert.It is prompted by the 41 cases of bird flu since February 25, 2007, among birds (no humans) in Kuwait. Furthermore an Indonesian house maid in the U.A.E., who became sick after handling dead birds, sparked great concern until her test results revealed she had pneumonia.
The publicity machine is cranking up, informing U.A.E. residents about telephone hotlines and issuing a range of precautionary measures e.g. get your birds examined, keep domestic and farm birds locked up so they do not mix with wild birds and avoid contact with wild water birds.
Officials at borders and airports are on the watch for any attempted improper importing of live birds and several bans have been implemented.
The U.A.E. government has called for vigilance among hospital staff to ensure top hygiene standards are maintained.
The Ministry of Health has announced that it possesses an initial stockpile of one million ‘Tamiflu’ tablets.
Geoff Pound
Image: To contain an outbreak of bird flu in Nigeria, dead birds are taken to a dump for burning.
