by HMKGrey » Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:04 pm
Hmmmm... keep an eye on this one. <br><br>from the BBC. <br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>Dead birds spark Israel flu fears<br><br>Israel has banned the import of poultry to limit the spread of bird flu<br>Hundreds of dead poultry have been found in two communities in southern Israel, raising fears of the country's first case of bird flu, officials say.<br><br>Israeli Agriculture Minister Zeev Boim said the dead turkeys were found in Ein Hashlosha and nearby Holit, next to the Gaza Strip in the western Negev region.<br><br>Mr Boim said officials suspected the bird flu virus was the cause of death, although testing was still under way.<br><br>A 7km (four-mile) quarantine zone has been imposed around the communities.<br><br>The H5N1 strain of the virus has killed more than 70 people worldwide. Cases of the strain have been reported in birds in at least 15 governorates in Israel's southern neighbour, Egypt.<br><br>'Suspicion'<br><br>Speaking on Israeli television, Mr Boim said the agriculture ministry could not be certain of the cause of the turkeys' deaths until a number of the birds had been tested.<br><br>QUICK GUIDE<br><br>Bird flu<br><br>"Tonight, we will likely find out if indeed we are talking about bird flu," he told Israel TV.<br><br>"In the meantime, it is a suspicion."<br><br>But Mr Boim said the authorities were prepared to contain the virus' spread if an outbreak was confirmed.<br><br>"We have imposed a quarantine in a radius of 7km around the area, and we are prepared, in case our suspicions are confirmed, to prepare for a wide-scale destruction of the flocks in a radius of 3km (two miles)," he said.<br><br>The tests will also determine if the birds died of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can be caught by humans who handle infected birds, but it is not yet known to have passed from one person to another.<br><br>However, experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic that could kill millions.<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
