Dubai: Following a recent outbreak of bird flu in Saudi Arabia, the authorities there have declared a state of emergency in the Makkah region and formed a committee to prevent the spread of disease.

The Ministry of Agriculture sent an urgent circular to all 140 poultry farms in the region to take precautionary measures to protect their poultry from the deadly virus that has been reported in the Riyadh region, officials said.

Farms have also been asked to ensure poultry does not come into contact with migrant birds, which may carry the disease, and send samples of dead birds at their farms for testing, they said. On November 15, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that it had culled 50,000 birds at a poultry farm in Al-Kharj, 150 km south of Riyadh.

Tests were carried out after 1,500 birds died in the farm, which had a total of 50,000 birds. The ministry said no human cases of bird flu had been found and an investigation was taking place to determine the origin of the illness.

Source : PTI