Isolation Wards Readied in Karachi Area
Recombinomics Commentary 17:27
February 2, 2008
The farms have been sealed off and officials began culling around 10,000 chickens, RH Usmani added.
Following confirmation of bird flu virus in Karachi, emergency has been declared and isolation wards have been set up in all government hospitals in Sindh.
Sindh DG Health Dr Abdul Majeed said that a 4-member committee had been made on district level to examine all poultry farms in the province and steps have been taken at all government hospitals to ensure precautionary measures and in time diagnose of bird flu virus. “Our medical teams have put them under observation,” Abdul Majeed said. “We may quarantine them if it is necessary,” he added. Health authorities said they were monitoring at least 15 poultry workers from the two farms.
Meanwhile, Hundreds of chickens have died in several poultry farms in Thatha and Badin. The samples taken from the deceased chickens have been sent to Islamabad for medical examine.
The above comments describe the monitoring of 15 poultry workers from two culled farms. It is still unclear why three farm workers have been placed in isolation As noted above, isolation wards have been set up at all government hospitals in Sindh.
Moreover, the poultry deaths in two additional locations (see satellite map here and here) raise concerns that the H5N1 infections in the south have spread.
In the north, many human H5N1 cases, including a sustained transmission chain that was laboratory confirmed in Pakistan, were reported late last year. It is likely that the outbreaks in the south are due to H5N1 that is genetically related.
Not all of the earlier cases in Pakistan developed pneumonia, raising concerns linked to undetected mild cases.
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