The first case of bird flu death has been registered in Tindouf, south Algeria, where thousands of Moroccan Sahrawis are detained by the so-called Polisario movement.
Arabic language daily Annahar al Maghribya said, according to sources from the detention camps, that the death was caused by the food received as humanitarian aid to the area, and included contaminated chicken.
The aid was sent to the Tindouf population after recent torrential rains that left an estimated 50,000 Moroccan Sahrawis homeless.
The newspaper added that the camps received aids form countries where bird flu was detected, including “Algeria, Spain, and Italy”.
After the disease reached some countries of the European Union (EU), and recently Nigeria and Egypt, Moroccans have become more concerned about any possible infection of the national poultry.
No case of bird flu has been detected in Morocco so far. A preventive policy against bird flu started in early October, as the government worked out a national action plan to avert any potential risk of the disease, imposing stricter quarantine measures on poultry farms, border posts and slaughter houses.
The Moroccan authorities also banned the importation of poultry from avian-flu infected countries and activated the National Commission for the Monitoring of Avian Flu , presided by Prime Minister Driss Jettou.
Early this month, an Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) regional meeting was held in Tunis to discuss the threat of the H5N1 virus on the region.
A Tunisian ornithologist, Abd Al-Majeed Dabar, urged Europe on Friday to set up advanced bird flu monitoring stations in Morocco and Tunisia, which are on the route of migratory birds flying from and to Europe, reported AFP.
“Tunesia and Morocco are located in two of the three corridors of seasonal migration. It would be beneficial for countries like Spain, France, Italy, or Germany to set up stations of monitoring, ” said Dabar, who is also president of the Association of Bird Friends (AAO).
The third corridor of migration Europe-Africa-Europe goes through Turkey, which is already contaminated by the disease.
“Birds never change their migration routes and know no boundaries,” he added, stressing that the set up of monitoring stations will allow early detection of bird flu cases.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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