# 1435
So far, no kids are reported to be sick. In fact, authorities are saying no children came in contact with the sick fowl.
At least one news source is reporting that the Kindergarten has been close until further notice.
A couple of news briefs:
Note: The use of the word `epidemic' here, based on what's been reported so far, would seem to be both inappropriate and inflammatory. At this time, all we have is a suspicious poultry die-off.
Suspicion of Bird flu epidemic: Kindergarten in Binyamina closed
Published:
01.03.08, 10:28 / Israel NewsA kindergarten in Binyamina has been shut down until further notice, after dead chicken carcasses were found in its chicken coop. Agriculture Ministry officials arrived at the scene to explain the situation to the parents and children.
At this stage it seems that the children did not come into contact with the birds. (Meital Yasur-Beit Or)
And this, from the Jerusalem Post.
Jan 3, 2008 10:44
Bird flu suspected next to Binyamina kindergarten
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Bird flu is suspected to have erupted near a Binyamina kindergarten Thursday, after 18 out of 25 hens at the local petting zoo died in the last week.
The other hens were culled by workers from the Ministry of Agriculture, who also imposed an animal curfew within a 10-kilometer radius of the kindergarten.
Laboratory tests are to be conducted to determine whether the flu, a common animal disease, is of the strain dangerous to humans.
It is understood that none of the children came in contact with the infected fowl.
And providing a little more detail, we get this from haaretz.com.
Agriculture Min. official says fears bird flu in Binyamina fowl
By Amiram Cohen, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
Investigators have found preliminary signs of bird flu in dead chickens from a kindergarten petting zoo in the northern town of Binyamina, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Thursday.
"The presence of the H5 strain of bird flu was discovered," Dr. Shimon Pokamunski, a ministry veterinarian, told Israel Radio. "The checks have not yet been completed ... For now, we are culling all of the fowl from the kindergarten's cage."
Investigators were checking for any indication of an outbreak at poultry farms within a 10-kilometer radius of the discovery site, the ministry said in a statement.
Veterinary services put the rest of the fowl to death, and ran epidemiology tests in the Beit Dagan veterinary institute.
Laboratory findings have so far located the existence of one of the two proteins that are identified with the virus. Final results are to be received later on Wednesday, and will indicate whether the second protein is also found in the chickens.
