Pakistan Hospitals on High Alert
Recombinomics Commentary 20:01
February 2, 2008
High alert has been declared in the whole country after bird flu confirmation in Karachi.
check-points have been set up at the entry/exit roads of the city, where chickens and poultry products coming from Sindh and Punjab
The above comments indicate all of Pakistan is now on high alert due to H5N1 in the Punjab region in the north, where H5N1 in humans and poultry was confirmed late last year, and recent confirmation of H5N1 in the Karachi (see satellite map here and here) .
In the Karachi area isolation wards have been readied and at least three farm workers have been placed in isolation. Last year, infections of cullers in October led to sustained transmission in humans in November. Reports on subsequent suspect patients have not been forthcoming.
However, the recent confirmation in the south raises concerns that the same strain in the north is now present throughout the country and is also likely in neighboring India, where excessive poultry deaths have been reported in the north, and confirmed in West Bengal.
The high alert reflects concerns that the infections confirmed on farms could spread to adjacent metropolitan areas,
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