FDAnews
www.fdanews.com/articles/82005-israel-jordan-to-co-operate-over-bird-flu

ISRAEL, JORDAN TO CO-OPERATE OVER BIRD FLU

October 28, 2005

Officials from Israel and Jordan are in negotiations over how to deal with the potential outbreak of avian flu in their respective countries. Concerns have been heightened recently after the H5N1 strain of the virus was found in nearby Turkey.

Experts say that the region serves as a stopover for more than a billion migrating birds a year, increasing fears that the area could be particularly vulnerable to the spread of the disease. Under current plans, if a case of bird flu is discovered, all fowl within a 3km radius will be destroyed. Israel and Jordan have also pledged to step up surveillance measures in border areas.

Israel's health ministry has asked for an additional US$43.3mn to buy enough stocks of anti-flu medicines to treat a quarter of the population, including supplies of Roche's sought after drug Tamiflu. Meanwhile, Jordan has banned the import of poultry and domestic birds and set aside US$8.4mn to prepare hospitals and buy essential drugs.

To date, bird flu has killed 60 people since it first appeared in Asia in 2003. Experts fear that the virus could soon mutate into human form and that a pandemic in inevitable.