Pakistan Reports More Bird Flu Cases Near Capital
April 24, 2006 8:30 p.m. EST
Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer
Islamabad, Pakistan (AHN) - Reported cases of the deadly bird flu virus are growing in Pakistan.
According to Mohammad Afzal, the ministry's livestock commissioner, "Now, we have total nine poultry farms (near Islamabad) where H5N1 virus has been confirmed."
Afzal confirms that over 40,000 chickens were culled after a recent outbreak near Islamabad.
Pakistan saw its first reported cases of bird flu in February when two farms in North West Frontier Province detected the virus. Soon after. a third was discovered close to the capital.
The only good news is that so far, none of the workers at the infected farms have contracted the virus.
Afzal adds, "We have tested samples of blood and nasal and throat swabs of 33 workers but their tests were negative."