Health authorities haven’t yet made contact over bird ’flu threat
THERE IS currently no cooperation between the two sides on the issue of bird ’flu but neither side would rule it out yesterday.
The moves – or lack thereof – came as Turkish medical staff yesterday tested nine people for possible bird ’flu a day after European health officials confirmed what many had long feared – the arrival of the deadly H5N1 strain on Europe’s doorstep
Authorities in the north banned all poultry imports from this week and the Health Ministry has been importing medication and stockpiling vaccines for another strain of influenza.
Paradoxically the sides have not met to discuss ways of working together to combat a virus that has made it to Europe through migratory birds.
The Turkish Cypriot side said it had made tentative contact on the issue by releasing a statement that called on the Greek Cypriot side to cooperate but said they had not received any response.
A senior official on the Greek Cypriot side they themselves were not aware of any cooperation but would not rule it out on a technical level.
Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides told the Cyprus Mail that cooperation could be done through the UN but he said as there had not been any cases in Cyprus it might be premature.
“I gave the guidelines to the technical level people just in case,” he said. “For the time being there is no reason for cooperation in the sense that we didn’t have any incident of the bird ’flu and therefore perhaps it is not needed.”
However Gavrielides said there might have been some contact with the UN at the technical level perhaps by the Veterinary Services that he was not aware of.
“We are taking all the measures required in case there is any incident. Then we can face it.”
Government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said there would not be any problem cooperating with the Turkish Cypriot side on a technical level through the UN.
“Technical cooperation through the UN on matters of routine are okay,” he said.
“On technical matters and technical committees and day to day problems there is some sort of cooperation through the UN.”
UNFICYP spokesman Brian Kelly said he was not aware of any cooperation taking place at the moment on the issue of bird ’flu. “Obviously we are here to facilitate any such exchange and are at their disposal,” he said.
Aysan Ceviker, a spokeswoman for the ‘Health Ministry’ in the north told the Cyprus Mail there was no cooperation a the moment but she said that on Wednesday the Turkish Cypriot side had put out a statement calling on the Greek Cypriot side to work with them.
“So far we have had no response,” said Ceviker. “We are also trying through the UN to find out what measures the Greek Cypriots are taking against bird ’flu.
“We know what we are doing is right and we are paying close attention to the World Health Organisation information and following it, but of course migratory birds do not recognise boundaries so we feel it necessary to work with the Greek Cypriot side.”
But BirdLife Cyprus said yesterday that migratory birds were not likely to spread the disease, which originated in domestic birds.
“While it is not yet clear how the virus is spreading, the movement of poultry by man is likely to be the significant factor involved,” an announcement said.
BirdLife said there was little evidence of wild birds carrying the virus. In the few known instances of waterfowl (ducks, geese and gulls) having been infected by the virus, the affected wild birds have been found dead or dying and therefore unable to fly long distances, it said.
Also there were to date no known cases of avian influenza transmission from wild birds to man and the risk of such transmission is remote, unless there is excessively close contact with infected birds or their excreta, it said.
The organisation however advised limiting contact between wild birds and domestic fowl is a sensible precaution to take against the spread of bird ’flu. It added that all experts agreed culls of wild birds or destruction of their habitats would not help stop the spread of the virus.
“In fact, such actions would be counter-productive as they would encourage dispersal of wild birds, spreading any infection they might carry much further afield,” BirdLife said.
“BirdLife Cyprus welcomes government advice to poultry farmers to minimise contact between chicken and wild birds as a sensible precaution. BirdLife Cyprus also welcomes the Game Fund programme to sample wild birds for infection with avian ’flu as another sensible precaution,” said the statement.
“Birdwatchers, hunters and the public in general should report the discovery of dead wild birds to the Veterinary Department and should take the precaution of avoiding touching any such carcasses.”
