Press review on Avian Influenza in Egypt. |
March 7th , 2006 |
This week's topic is also a hot one: the impact of Avian Influenza in Egypt. The poultry industry provides work for 2.5 - 3 million persons. Poultry accounts for 50% of the animal proteins consumed in Egypt. 180 million one-day chicks and 500,000 mature fowls are exported yearly. What is the economical and social impact of the disease after the virus reached Egypt? What to do to save the poultry sector which is very important? |
| ‘Paltry' payments rapped. Trade Arabia. |
Rights groups in Egypt criticised a government strategy to compensate poultry farmers and sellers, hard hit by the H5N1 avian virus two weeks ago, for fowl destroyed in a recent prevention drive. Cases of the virus have emerged among birds in 14 of 26 Egyptian governorates, although there have been noincidences reported among humans so far. “We believe the economic crisis poultry farmers are enduring will by no means be eased in the long term by the government's current strategy,” Wagih Abdel Aziz, director of the Cairo-based Southern Centre for Human Rights Studies, was quoted as saying in an IRIN report. Read more.. |
| Bird flu spreads in Egypt, hitting poultry trade. Reuters. |
| By Jonathan Wright and Mohammed Abbas CAIRO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to new parts of Egypt, adding to the devastation in a poultry industry which provided almost 50 percent of the animal protein consumed by Egyptians, officials said on Monday.Read more.. |
| Egypt orders domestic bird cull. BBC News. |
| The Egyptian government has ordered the slaughter of all poultry kept in homes, as part of efforts to stop the spread of bird flu in the country.A ban on the movement of poultry between governorates is in place. Measures already announced include a ban on the import of live birds. Read more... |
| Poultry industry collapses. Al Ahram Weekly Online (Egypt). |
| The spread of avian flu has devastated a once thriving industry, reports Reem Leila. "Of course I don't buy chicken. I'm afraid, afraid for myself, my family and especially for my children. Who isn't afraid of disease?" said housewife Amal Mohamed as she shopped at a Cairo market. Her fears are shared by many, and the poultry market has all but collapsed. Read more.. |
| Flying rumours. Al Ahram Weekly Online (Egypt). |
| Rising panic has accompanied the implementation of emergency measures to contain the spread of avian influenza which has also affected a 17 billion pound industry. The announcement on Friday that the H5N1 strain of avian flu had reached Egypt may not have come as a surprise, though the sense of shock was palpable. It was almost inevitable that the most pathogenic strain of the virus that has already infected 196 people and killed 91 in Asia and the Middle East would be found in Egypt, which lies on a major route for migratory birds. Read more... |
| Egypt's poultry sector reels from bird flu. AFP. |
| Wednesday, February 22, 2006. Experts fear dramatic slump in sales after virus found in country. Cairo: The sudden outbreak of avian influenza in Egypt has dealt a huge blow to the poultry industry, in a country which consumes 800 million birds a year and exports to the entire region. The destruction of flocks and transport restrictions imposed by the authorities to stem the spread of the disease are costing the industry an estimated $1.7 million a day, according to the state-owned Al-Akhbar daily. Read more... |