Alert over fears of possible Bird Flu outbreak

By Peter Orengo

Kenya has been put on the alert over a possible outbreak of Avian Influenza, also known as Bird Flu.

The warning was given by the Kenya Veterinary Department, Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) officials during an East African region sensitisation workshop in Nairobi, yesterday.

The announcement comes after an Egyptian girl was reported to have contracted the virus.

A veterinary official, Mr Michael Cheruiyot said Kenya was taking measures in case the disease is reported in the country.

Migratory path

"Kenya is vulnerable since we fall on the wild bird migratory path to and from Asia and Europe," he said.

The head of veterinary services at KWS, Mr Francis Gakuya said they were monitoring the situation.

Kemri’s Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease Specialist, Ms Monique Wasunna, asked Kenyans to avoid eating poultry meat that is not inspected. Transporting or sleeping in the same room with birds should also be avoided.

Since 2003, the H5N1 avian influenza virus has infected at least 410 people in 15 countries and killed 254 of them. It has also killed or forced the culling of more than 300 million birds in 61 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

While H5N1 rarely infects people, experts fear it could mutate into a form that people could easily pass to each other. Although it is suspected those who have died from the strain caught it from birds, scientists believe there are cases of human-to-human transmission.

In April, Ivory Coast detected its first outbreaks in birds, the sixth African nation to confirm the virus after Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.