The Veterinary Medicine Department in Beni Suef discovered that the birds' deaths at a farm in the village Ezbet Gheita resulted from the bird flu virus H5N1 after samples were analyzed at the Health Ministry’s laboratories.
Major General Mohamed Ezzat, the governorate’s secretary general, said Tareq al-Wakeel, head of the veterinary medicine department, is heading a team of 15 veterinarians that vaccinated close to 5,000 birds after a report was filed to the department by Essam Anwar Kamal, who lives in Ezbet Gheita and had four birds die on his farm. The team took samples from the dead birds and sent them to the central laboratories, which found the results positive.
Ezzat added that the rest of the birds at Kamal’s farm, including 25 chickens and 42 ducks, were slaughtered. Ezzat said that the whole village will be examined. The committee formed by the Health Ministry, veterinary medicine, Agriculture Ministry and police were formed to take necessary measures.
A total of eight villages next to Ezbet Gheita will be examined. Beni Suef Governor Magdy al-Beteity requested a report with the number of birds that were vaccinated.
Health Ministry recently announced that Egypt was free of the H5N1 virus and that the last case had been discovered in April 2013.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
