# 1273
It feels like Saudi Arabia has gone from 0 to 60 in about 5 seconds.
While there have been a handful of small outbreaks in that country over the past couple of years - mostly involving falcons, parrots, peacocks, and turkeys - none have involved large poultry farms.
Over the past week we've learned of four large poultry operations on the outskirts of Riyadh that have been stricken. Now we find that four shops in the heart of Riyadh have been found to harbor sick birds.
No doubt authorities are scrambling to see if there is any common denominator between all 8 locations, hoping to find (and eradicate) the source of this virus.
Bird Flu Arrives in the Heart of Riyadh
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab NewsRIYADH, 20 November 2007 — A poultry market in the Aziziyah district of Riyadh was cordoned off after inspectors identified four cases of bird flu there yesterday during a random inspection.
An emergency team, assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture to control the deadly virus, cordoned the market off. The team comprises officials from the police, the municipality, the ministries of health and agriculture and the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWD).
“There are 85 poultry shops in this market and each will have a minimum of 1,000 birds. The team plans to cull the birds and disinfect the whole area to stop the virus from spreading,” said Soliman Al-Buthi, general manager of the Environmental Health Department at the Riyadh Municipality.
He added that municipality is working with the emergency team to tackle the problem. Al-Buthi stressed that the situation is under control and called on members of the public to help the authorities tackle the problem.
According to a statement issued yesterday by Muhammad Al-Sheha, undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, the authorities have so far culled 222,000 birds in Al-Kharj, Durma, Muzamiyah and Al-Hayati.
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