Saudis Report First Outbreak Of Bird Flu

From Peoples' Daily Online :

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Friday the first outbreak of H5N1 bird flu virus among birds in the country, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

After the deadly bird flu cases being detected among turkeys, parrots, peacocks and ostriches in eastern part of the country, a number of birds have been ordered to be culled, said SPA.

In addition, the Saudi government has imposed a quarantine blocking the import of live birds into the country and banning the hunting of migrant birds to avoid further spread of the virus.

No human cases have been reported up to now, according to the report.

Bird flu cases have been detected in Kuwait and Egypt in the Arab region.

Egypt has officially reported 26 human infections, resulting in 13 deaths.