# 1707
Yesterday's story of poultry deaths in Malir, near Karachi, evoked fears of bird flu even as authorities were reassuring the public that the nation was free of the H5N1 virus.
Overnight, laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus. This is, according to authorities, a small outbreak in an isolated area. This is the third such outbreak in Pakistan in a month.
According to another story, carried by Crof of Crofsblog, the affected poultry farm culled their birds and disposed of them before the test results were obtained, and without government supervision.
Pakistan finds new bird flu outbreak
(DPA)
24 February 2008ISLAMABAD - Pakistani health officials on Sunday confirmed a new outbreak of bird flu at a farm outside the southern city of Karachi.
It was the third outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the Karachi area this month, but limited only to fowl that tested positive at one farm, and no humans were infected.
“It’s a small outbreak in a isolated area,” said Maqbool Jan Abbasi, an official at Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, who said local authorities were slow in realizing the outbreak occurred. “The poultry people should have been more alert.”
He said provincial authorities had alerted local hospitals and dispatched health teams to the area, around 15 kilometres outside Karachi, which is Pakistan’s largest city and financial centre.
