12-20-05,9:41am
ADDIS ABABA, 20 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Birds that were suspected of having contracted avian flu in Ethiopia have tested negative for the virus, an agriculture official said on Tuesday.
'The results from the bird flu tests we have carried out are negative,' said Mulugeta Debalkew, spokesman with the agriculture ministry in Addis Ababa.
'However, we are still remaining vigilant because of the potential threat, and the ban on imports of poultry will remain in place for the time being,' he said.
Scientists had flown in from Egypt to carry out the tests on more than a dozen samples because Ethiopia does not have the proper equipment to check for avian flu.
The tests revealed that the birds had died from Newcastle disease, which according to the United States Department of Agriculture is one of the most infectious poultry diseases in the world.
Newcastle disease is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs. A death rate of almost 100 percent can occur in unvaccinated poultry flocks, and the disease is very common in Africa. It does not pose an immediate danger to humans.
Tests were carried out on dead birds from different areas in the country, including the capital, Afar in the Rift Valley, and Somali Region, where several hundred dead birds were found in late November. Fresh tests were also carried out on sick birds.
The birds are being tested for the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has devastated Asia's poultry flocks and killed at least 62 people since 2003.
The dead birds - all nonmigratory local pigeons - were discovered around drinking wells in Somali region in eastern Ethiopia and at two separate locations in Addis Ababa.
Authorities in Somali Region estimated that around 500 dead birds were found at wells and water points in the Deger Bur area. Some 10 to 15 birds were discovered at each site.
Experts believe that the Rift Valley countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are at high risk for avian flu outbreaks because millions of migratory birds fly south to warmer climes during the European winter.
A government-led taskforce in Ethiopia estimated that some US $53 million would be needed to fight a possible pandemic of the H5N1 virus of avian flu that affects humans.
Ethiopia's state news media announced on 1 December that the country was extending a ban imposed in October on the import of all poultry products. A bird flu national task force with technical committees was also established.
The UN has also set up its own crisis management team for avian flu in Ethiopia and is in the process of completing a contingency plan to deal with a potential outbreak.
