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Friday, 24 March 2006, 10:24 GMT

Bird flu case confirmed in Jordan

Jordan farmer The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in dead birds on a private farm in northern Jordan.

Laboratory test results conducted overnight on Thursday showed that birds had died of the virus in the Ajloun district of northern Jordan.

The strain has been detected recently in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

Health Minister Saeed Darwazeh is due to hold a news conference on Friday to give more details about tests and outline plans to combat bird flu.

SPREAD OF BIRD FLU


On Thursday, Mr Darwazeh issued a seven-day deadline for "people raising domestic fowl to get rid of them, after which the competent authorities will have them killed".

He said that the Jordanian authorities had raised their state of preparedness to a "maximum level".

Officials are concentrating on inspection operations of chicken farms in the Jordan Valley.

The H5N1 strain of the virus has killed more than 100 people worldwide.

It does not pose a large-scale threat to humans, as it does not pass easily from one person to another at present.

However, experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk.



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