EGYPT’S PIGS SLAUGHTER UP TO 26,000; MORE BARNS FOUND IN GIZA AND MENYA

Dr. Hamed Samaha, Chairman of the General Authority for Veterinary Services, has said that more than 2,000 pigs have been slaughtered and culled in El-Basateen slaughterhouse, while the total number of killed pigs has risen to more than 26,000.

This is part of the preventive national campaign against swine flu. 131,652 pigs nationwide still have to be killed.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Samaha said that the investigations carried out by the Authority technical committee unveiled the presence of 46 barns with 1,331 pigs in the Governorate of Giza, while 144 pigs were found and slaughtered yesterday.

The Cabinet Disaster Committee held meetings yesterday to follow up on the slaughter of pigs nationwide.

It also entrusted the governorates with speeding up the transport of pigs to the slaughterhouses approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, providing all the necessary facilities to control the transport of pigs to the abattoirs, rapidly informing the concerned bodies of the smuggling of pigs away from the control of veterinary services, and referring violations to investigative bodies.

The General Authority for Veterinary Services has decided to ban the import of pigs’ intestine which are used to produce threads for surgical operations, as well as pigs’ hairs, which are used to produce shaving and painting brushes.

The ban will be in place until a scientific committee made up of experts from various universities and research centers is formed to make sure that no virus can be transmitted from infected pigs through any of these products.

Meanwhile, official sources at the General Federation of Poultry Producers said they intended to submit an urgent note to Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza to call on him to put off the implementation of the law regulating the circulation of live birds for two years until new slaughterhouses were set up capable to accommodate the entire daily production of birds (more than two million a day).

SOURCED FROM ALMASRY ALYOUM

11,600 PIGS SLAUGHTERED IN EGYPT, FARMERS IN BITTER FIGHT

The General Authority for Veterinary Services has executed and slaughtered 11,591 pigs out of 156,000 pigs nationwide.
 
The Ministry of Agriculture’s veterinary bodies are making investigation, in coordination with Alexandria Veterinary Medicine Directorate and security services, on the reasons for the presence of skins and heads of pigs in kilo 50 district on Alexandria-Cairo Desert Road amid speculation that the pigs were smuggled to many restaurants and shops in Alexandria or the surrounding areas.
 
The General Authority for Veterinary Services has intensified its campaigns on restaurants and kebab shops nationwide to investigate whether they deceive people and sell pork as another kind of meat.

Amin Abaza, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, said it was decided to assign veterinarians to supervise the transport of pigs from the farms to slaughterhouses.

In a press statement yesterday, Abaza said it was decided to intensify security ambushes between provinces to prevent the smuggling of pigs.

In a related development, official sources with the Ministry of Agriculture have accused the Ministry of Environment of lack of cooperation to safely get rid of the slaughtered pigs.

Abaza has approved disbursing the funds needed to provide al-Kulj and Munib slaughterhouses at Qalyubia and Giza governorates with the necessary equipment for the slaughter of pigs.
 
The Principal Bank for Development and Agriculture Credit has approved to finance the compensation pigs farms’ owners from the LE30-million budget allocated by the state for the General Authority for Veterinary Services to slaughter pigs.
 
Hamid Samaha, Chairman of the General Authority for Veterinary Services, stressed that 145,962 pigs have not been slaughtered yet, adding that the process of slaughtering pigs will be quickest next week, especially after the Cabinet assigned the agencies concerned with closing the file of the random breeding of pigs to fight swine flu.

Animal care associations have criticized the government’s decision to slaughter and execute pigs. They stressed that they are not against slaughter, but against the so-called “random slaughter” of pigs.
 
The associations have called on the government to search for other alternative places having all health and veterinary requirements to protect public health and environment on the one hand, and to provide suitable life for pig in accordance with the international standards on the other hand.

In another context, the Egyptian Federation for Animal Welfare has criticized a society of animal welfare for exploiting religion and linking it to the policies of States to control epidemics, including

SOURCED FROM ASMAN AMRYAN

 

EGYPTIAN POLICE CLASH WITH FARMERS OVER PIGS SLAUGHTER

Egyptian pig farmers have clashed with police in Cairo, as they tried to stop their animals being slaughtered. Hundreds of people at the Manshiyat Nasr slum threw stones and bottles at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. The government wants to cull all the nation’s pigs, a move UN experts say is not necessary to prevent swine flu. Egypt’s pigs mostly belong to the Coptic Christian minority who say the cull has reignited religious tensions. The authorities initially said the pig cull was a precaution against swine flu but now describe as a general public health measure. There have been no cases of swine flu reported in Egypt. In Mexico, where the global swine flu outbreak started, the authorities said it could be stabilising

There are estimated to be more than 300,000 pigs in Egypt, but the World Health Organisation says there is no evidence there of the animals transmitting swine flu to humans.

Pig-farming and consumption is concentrated in Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, estimated at 10% of the population.

Many are reared in slum areas by rubbish collectors who use the pigs to dispose of organic waste. They say the cull will harm their businesses and has renewed tensions with Egypt’s Muslim majority.

On Saturday, health officials began the slaughter in earnest, moving in on a Cairo slum where rubbish collectors are said to keep around 60,000 pigs.

The slaughter is expected to take around a month

SOURCED FROM BBC

W.H.O. SAYS SWINE FLU NOW IN 15 COUNTRIES

The World Health Organisation said on Saturday that 15 countries have reported 615 infections with the new flu virus A-H1N1, widely known as swine flu.

Most of the increase from Friday’s 331 toll reflects the results of ongoing tests from Mexico, which had a backlog of samples in WHO labs, the United Nations agency said.

Mexico, the epicentre of the disease outbreak, now has 397 laboratory-confirmed human cases including 16 deaths, according to the WHO, whose data has been lagging national figures and is considered most authoritative.

The second-most affected country, the United States, has 141 cases confirmed in WHO labs including one death, the Mexican infant whose family crossed the border to seek medical help.

Other countries have had the following number of confirmed H1N1 infections, with no deaths: Austria (1), Canada (34), Hong Kong – China (1), Denmark (1), France (1), Germany (4), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), South Korea (1), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and Britain (13).

Mexico has cut its suspected death toll to 101 from as many as 176 because of test samples coming back negative in its labs, the government said late on Friday, in a sign the flu pandemic the WHO says is “imminent” may not be as severe as first feared.

On Saturday, the WHO repeated its view that borders should stay open and travel should not be limited as a result of the virus, but said “it is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention.

“Individuals are advised to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis and should seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of influenza-like illness,” the WHO said on its website.

SOUTH AFRICAN SWINE FLU TESTS ARE NEGATIVE

Two suspected swine flu cases in South Africa have tested negative, say health officials, meaning there are no confirmed cases of the virus in Africa. Laboratory tests on the women, from Gauteng province and Western Cape, were negative. They had recently visited Mexico, epicentre of the outbreak.

It came as the African Union prepared a continent-wide response for a pandemic. The World Health Organization has raised the swine flu alert level to warn a global outbreak may be imminent. Lucille Blumberg, of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, said the unnamed Gauteng woman had been cleared.

The other woman, Susan Kok, 58, who had just returned from a month-long break in Mexico with her husband, told South Africa’s Times newspaper she was “so grateful” after also testing negative. “ We hope to establish a continental plan for prevention, and if necessary a mechanism to fight this outbreak that has not yet affected Africa ”
Jean Ping African Union Commissioner

The African Union has been working on an emergency swine flu response at a conference in Ethiopia.

SOURCED FROM BBC

PIGS SLAUGHTER BEGINS IN EGYPT, FARMERS RESIST

Egypt started seizing and slaughtering pig herds on Thursday as a precaution against swine flu despite resistance by farmers and criticism from the United Nations, officials and farmers said. Egypt, already hit hard by bird flu, fears another flu virus could spread quickly in a country where most of the roughly 80 million people live in the densely packed Nile Valley, many in crowded slums around Cairo.

But the United Nations said the mass cull of up to 400,000 pigs was “a real mistake” because the new viral strain — a mix of swine, avian and human viruses — has not actually been found in pigs. Farmers in the most populous Arab country said the state had begun confiscating animals anyway.

“They have destroyed us. The pigs were our livelihood,” said 21-year-old Hanan Ahmed, whose family runs a small farm with around 25 pigs in Cairo. “They took them. They kidnapped them. And they beat them and us. They said they will take them to the slaughterhouse and kill them there,” she added, saying she had received no compensation.

The H1N1 swine flu virus is spread by people, not pigs. But culling swine, largely viewed as unclean in Muslim Egypt, could help quell any public panic. Pigs are mainly raised by the country’s Christian minority. Dozens of pigs were slaughtered in the early phase of the cull. Near the southern town of Minya, workers suffocated 25 piglets in plastic sacks and killed dozens of adult pigs and gave the meat to their owners, a local official said.

SOURCED FROM REUTERS

W.H.O ISSUES ADVISE ON SWINE FLU SPREAD IN HOSPITALS

Countries should be on high alert for the new swine flu virus, tracking any suspect cases and ensuring medical workers do not spread it further, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday. Doctors and hospital staff must wear protective masks and gloves and wash their hands often to lower the risk of transmitting the new strain among themselves and patients, the United Nations agency said in fresh guidance on the outbreak.

“All countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said. The WHO has raised its alert level to 5, on a scale of 6, indicating a pandemic was “imminent”. (www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/swineinfinfcont/en/index.html)

“At this stage, effective and essential measures include heightened surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases and infection control in all health facilities,” Chan told a news conference late on Wednesday. Laboratories must gear up to analyse quickly whether patients have the new strain and follow good biosafety measures, said Chan, adding the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was working to make diagnostic kits available to other countries and laboratories.

The new virus has killed up to 176 people in Mexico and is spreading fast. A dozen countries have reported cases of the H1N1 strain and Texas officials have confirmed a 22-month-old Mexican boy had died in the state while on a family visit, the first confirmed swine flu death outside Mexico.

SOURCED FROM REUTERS

AFRICANS TESTED FOR SWINE FLU VIRUS

Africa’s first two possible cases of the potentially killer swine flu virus are being tested in South Africa. Both women, one from Gauteng, the other from Western Cape, had “mild symptoms”, said Lucille Blumberg, of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

It comes as the African Union prepared to establish a continent-wide response to any major outbreak of the virus. The World Health Organization has raised the swine flu alert, sending a “strong signal a pandemic is imminent”.

The two South Africans had recently visited Mexico, epicentre of the disease, said officials. Neither was seriously ill and one had already recovered after receiving anti-viral treatments. “ We were at the Mexico City airport three times so I thought the cough was just due to jet lag ”
Susan Kok Tested for swine flu

But health authorities said they were unlikely to be able to confirm if one of the women did have the virus as her samples had not been stored properly. Ms Blumberg said swine flu tests needed to be sent overseas for confirmation, as South African laboratories could still only do preliminary examinations.

Local laboratories test results are expected in days.

SOURCED FROM BBC

‘SWINE FLU, A MAJOR CONCERN’: ETHIOPIAN CONFERENCE

Health officials from seven African countries are discussing a response to swine flu at a conference in Ethiopia, organisers said on Wednesday. The conference, involving Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, was planned six months ago to talk about Africa’s poor response to pandemics.

“It’s really fortuitous that this is going on in the context of an international emergency,” Gregory Pappas, pandemic coordinator for U.S. charity Interaction, told Reuters. “Most African countries haven’t done extensive planning, and this meeting is about helping those countries.”

No cases have been reported on the continent. Germany and Austria became the eighth and ninth countries to confirm cases of the virus on Wednesday and the United States reported the first death outside Mexico.

Health experts have expressed concern about sub-Saharan Africa’s capacity to deal with a pandemic, given the poor state of health infrastructure on the world’s neediest continent. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for assistance for poorer countries vulnerable to the crisis which may need drugs, diagnostic tools and other help.

SOURCED FROM REUTERS

EGYPT CONSIDERS MASS PIG CULL OVER SWINE FLU FEARS

Egypt, hard hit by the highly pathogenic bird flu virus, is considering culling hundreds of thousands of pigs as a precautionary measure as swine flu nears the borders of the most populous Arab country. The move is not expected to block the H1N1 virus from striking, as the illness is spread by people and not present in Egyptian swine. But acting against pigs, largely viewed as unclean in conservative Muslim Egypt, could help quell a panic.

Pigs are mainly raised by Egypt’s Christian minority. Experts fear any flu pandemic could spread quickly in Egypt and have a devastating impact in a country where most of the roughly 80 million people live in the densely packed Nile Valley, many concentrated in crowded slums in and around Cairo.

“The question now is should we kill them or relocate them, and the prevailing idea now is to kill the existing (pigs) and of course compensate their owners,” cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said on Wednesday. He put the number of pigs that could be culled at between 300,000 and 400,000, and said a decision was expected in days.

“If you see the conditions of the swine farms in Egypt, they are not healthy at all. They are hazards in themselves, even without the swine flu. That’s why people are really getting afraid,” he told Reuters. Swine flu has killed up to 159 people in Mexico and cases have been reported in the United States and Europe as well as in neighbouring Israel. Egypt has no reported cases, but has stepped up monitoring at airports.

SOURCED FROM REUTERS