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Kuwait reports bird flu case
10/11/2005 14:05 - (SA)
Kuwait - A top Kuwaiti official announced on Thursday the discovery of two birds infected with avian flu, the first cases to be reported in the Gulf region.
Sheikh Fahd Salem al-Sabah, head of the public agriculture authority, said the two cases were discovered last week.
The first case was discovered at Kuwait Airport, while examining a shipment of imported birds, and the second was found at a seaside chalet.
On October 26, Kuwait announced a worldwide ban on the import of all types of birds and also banned the import of chicken and its products from 18 countries, where cases of bird flu had been reported.
The oil-rich emirate had set up a high-level committee to try to prevent the spread of the flu and earmarked $17m to buy drugs to combat the disease.
Authorities had already ordered some 30m capsules of the Tamiflu drug, due for delivery by February.
Kuwait was a member of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council, which recently met in Riyadh to draw up a common strategy to combat the virus, amid warnings by officials that the region was vulnerable because of migratory birds.
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