BIRD flu inspections are to be stepped up in the Turkish Cypriot-controlled north after an outbreak of the H5N1 virus was reported in the southeastern Turkish province of Batman on Thursday.
“Now that the virus is present in Turkey, inspections here are being stepped up,” the head of the Turkish Cypriot Bird Flu Co-ordination Centre Dogan Sahali told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
Turkey’s Agriculture Ministry confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in the southeast of the country on Thursday, where the H5N1 strain of the disease killed four children just over a year ago. But while broadcaster CNN Turk had initially reported three children under medical observation, government officials in Batman province insisted no human cases had been reported. Officials did, however, announce the start of a poultry cull to prevent further infection.
Sahali was keen to stress yesterday that the Turkish Cypriot authorities were “ready and able” to combat an outbreak of the disease in the north. Last year, the Turkish Cypriot authorities were quick to cordon off a village in the northeast of the island after two birds were tested positive for bird flu – a move that prompted the Cypriot government to impose disinfecting facilities at Green Line crossings for several weeks.
Sahali said yesterday the north’s authorities had held a “bird flu drill” in December, which had been watched by teams from both the UN and the EU, and that the drill had left the teams “perfectly satisfied”. He also spoke of a meeting of the Bird Flu Co-ordination Centre that took place on Wednesday and included the participation of the agricultural, interior and health ‘ministries’, as well at the veterinary department and the EU Co-ordination Office.
This year’s measures, however, fall short of last year’s, which included a ban on hunting. Hunters are, however, being warned to keep away from lakes which attract large numbers of migratory birds.
“The fact that the village where bird flu was found last year was near a lake makes us believe migratory birds brought the virus to the island,” Sahali said.
Asked whether measures against bird flu in the north were being co-ordinated with those in the south, Sahali said, “We invited the authorities there to join us, but they chose not to.” He said EU and UN inspectors observing the drill had “not been impressed” by the Cypriot government’s shunning of the event, but added that the absence of the Greek Cypriot side would not detract from the effectiveness of the north’s measures, as these were “based on directives handed out by the EU”.
