Pakistan reports second outbreak of bird flu
Pakistan’s second outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain was confirmed today at a poultry farm near the capital, the agriculture ministry said.
Laboratory tests conducted by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock on samples from the small poultry farm in Sihala, a village about 15 miles east of Islamabad, confirmed the H5N1 strain, said Mohammed Afzal, ministry spokesman.
Confirmation of the outbreak by the World Health Organisation was not immediately available.
Some 3,500 chicken at the farm have been slaughtered and ministry officials are taking samples from nearby farms to find out if the disease has spread, Afzal said.
Last month, the ministry confirmed the H5N1 strain in birds at two farms in northwestern Pakistan.
