# 5535
There are many places in the world where getting accurate and timely reports on outbreaks of infectious diseases – whether they affect animals or humans – can be very difficult.
They may occur in remote regions with poor lines of communication, in areas without modern medical testing or surveillance capabilities, or in nations dealing with armed conflict or natural disasters, or in countries with repressive governments or limited press freedoms.
Many places could put a checkmark beside two or more of those conditions. Which makes it hard to access the true impact of many diseases around the world.
One of those places is Iraq, which is still reeling from decades of military conflict and political turmoil.
Although surrounded by countries that have reported outbreaks of H5N1 in the past (most notably Turkey and Saudi Arabia), we’ve seen relatively few reports of bird flu coming out of Iraq in recent years.
In 2008 we saw Iraq: H9 Bird Flu Detected In Duhok, Reports Of Extensive Bird Culling In Iraq, and KUNA: Bird Flu Detected In Iraqi Birds.
And if you go back to 2006, three human infections were confirmed by the World Health Organization (see Avian influenza – situation in Iraq - update 5).
We occasionally see media reports in the Arab press of bird die offs, sometimes attributed to `bird flu’. Rarely do we get updates, or laboratory confirmation of the kind of `bird flu’ involved.
Today, we’ve another such report, out of Diyala, Iraq. It is reported in Arabic by the Independent Iraqi news service Aswat al-Iraq.
While the strain of bird flu is not mentioned, based on the `loss of thousands of chickens’, one would assume if this is avian influenza, it is a highly pathogenic strain.
There are, of course, other poultry diseases that could account for these kinds of losses, including Newcastle and fowl cholera (Pasteurella multocida). So, until we see some laboratory results, I’d recommend taking the diagnosis of `bird flu’ with a grain of salt.
The following was discovered and posted by Sharon Sanders on FluTrackers, and is a machine translation from the original Arabic.
The bird flu epidemic threatens thousands of poultry in Diyala (FT link)
28/04/2011 14:54
Diyala / Aswat al-Iraq: Member of the Committee warned services in the province of Diyala on Thursday, a disaster and epidemic led to the deaths of thousands of poultry in the province, as an agricultural source said that the epidemic is widespread in the areas of the Khanaqin.
The Prince Abdul Sajid told (Voices of Iraq) that "the Diyala province, suffer from the spread of bird flu pandemic, which led to the deaths of thousands of chickens in different parts of Diyala, including seven of thousands of chickens in the elimination of Baquba."
Talib Abd al-Amir and the Department of Agriculture and Livestock to "show greater attention to addressing the epidemic through the provision of pesticides needed."
For his part, said an official source at the Agriculture Department of Diyala, "The flu is widespread in the areas of the Khanaqin (155 km north east of Baquba), noting that" the epidemic is widespread in areas Qrtbp and powerful and led to the loss of thousands of chickens. "
He attributed the source of many of the most important reasons for the indiscriminate importation of eggs as well as the poor quality of the vaccines used, he said.
Baquba, capital of Diyala province, lies 57 km northeast of the capital Baghdad.
For whatever reason, an English version of this story does not appear to have been published on the Aswat al-Iraq English language page.
Obviously we’ll keep an eye on this for future updates.
