Saudi Arabia culls falcons with bird flu

Jan 29 2006

According to the Agriculture Ministry in Saudi Arabia, 37 falcons have been culled after five of them tested positive to the H5 virus of the avian flu.

Apparently a ministry health team was inspecting falcons in a veterinary center in Riyadh, where the birds, which are used for hunting, are cared for, when they discovered the cases.

The five birds have already tested positive to the H5 strain of bird flu and the authorities are waiting for laboratory test results on the sub-type,the N virus which is the other component of the bird flu virus, according to a report by the Agriculture Ministry.

The 37 falcons which were raised in the veterinary centre have apparently been killed and burned.

In November the Kingdom banned all bird imports from neighboring countries after Kuwait announced a bird stricken with avian flu in the country carried the deadly H5N1 strain, the first case in the Gulf region.

Although the disease remains primarily a bird disease contracted by close contact with sick birds, experts fear that the virus might mutate into a form that passes easily among humans triggering a global pandemic, killing millions.

To date the H5N1 strain has killed a known 82 people worldwide since late 2003 and has rendered many more sick.