# 2096
We've heard relatively little about bird flu out of Pakistan since last February's outbreaks, when we were treated to blatantly false assurances from the poultry Industry that the H5N1 virus posed no threat to humans.
A sample of that propaganda follows:
‘Poultry safe for use, no threat of bird flu outbreak’
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Poultry meat and eggs are safe for use and there are no threats of bird flu outbreak, said World Poultry Science Association, Pakistan Branch President Dr Mohammad Sadiq in a press conference here on Tuesday.
He said that there was not a single case in the world where a person was reported to have died after touching the affected poultry meat.
This quiescence in reporting has been broken by today's story detailing the sudden deaths of 4,000 birds and positive tests for the H5N1 virus.
Pakistan reports new bird flu outbreak
Posted: 23 June 2008 0034 hrsPESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani authorities Sunday reported a new outbreak of avian flu at a commercial poultry farm in the country's northwest, killing thousands of birds, officials said.
Tests conducted at a government-run laboratory in Islamabad confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a farm in Swabi district, local livestock department chief Ibrahim Khan told AFP.
"The virus was detected after the owner of the farm informed us on Friday that some 4,000 birds had died within the past few days," he said.
"We got the confirmation on Saturday, sealed the farm and culled around 2,000 birds," he said.
All workers on the affected farm were examined by the ministry of health but none was found to have been affected by the virus, he added.
Local health officials are monitoring surrounding farms and advised them to take precautionary measures including vaccination of birds, he said.
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