BUJUMBURA, 28 November (IRIN) - A senior Burundian health official said on
Tuesday the government was implementing measures aimed at preventing the possible introduction of avian flu to the country, since it was a destination for migratory birds from Europe and Asia where
cases of the disease have been reported."From the months of November to April every year, we receive thousands of birds of various species from central Europe, the Middle East and eastern Asia,"
Charles Batungwanayo, director-general of the Ministry of Public Health, said. "Some of the areas are or were reported to have been infected by the bird flu virus." On 21 November, the government
adopted a US$6 million national plan for 2006-2007 aimed at keeping the country free of the avian flu virus. Batungwanayo said the money would come from an international fund set up for this purpose. Burundi has an estimated 853,000 poultry requiring anti-H5N1 virus vaccines worth $7,000."We are now setting up a national network of epidemiologic surveillance to counter or control epidemics such
as bird flu," Batungwanayo said.The network, however, existed in name only as it lacked trained personnel and money. "We [the Burundian government] have already sent two researchers to Cameroon in
a bid to be trained in the diagnosis of the avian flu virus," Batungwanayo said.He added that the national plan was intended to strengthen the country's surveillance and alarm-raising systems, as
well as improve national health and veterinary structures.One of the most modern hospitals in the capital, Bujumbura, will be equipped to treat possible human cases of bird flu, he said. Bujumbura
was chosen because it had the best hospitals in the country and a high population density.Anti-viral medicines will also be made available. These will include 100 treatments for emergency cases and
a stockpile of 1,000 treatments.Batungwanayo added that 100 kits for individual protection and 20 of spraying equipment would be available if there was a viral outbreak in Burundi. He said
electronic and print media would be used in public awareness campaigns.The Burundian government is regulating the import of birds and poultry products, especially from countries where cases of avian
flu have been reported.He said migrating birds sought places of high humidity in Burundi, such as the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the Rusizi Nature Reserve in the west, the lowlands along River
Ruvubu in the north, and the region around the small lakes of the northern province of Kirundo. Consequently, he said, these areas were most vulnerable to the disease. Batungwanayo said most rural
dwellers had adopted what is known as "traditional familial stockbreeding system", which involved accommodating their chickens in one of the rooms within their homes. "The majority of those people
are illiterate. Not only do they shelter their chickens in their houses, they also keep all kinds of domestic animals [cows, goats, sheep] there," Batungwanayo added.People living in close proximity
with H5N1 virus-infected birds or chickens are most at risk of infection. The risk of transmission, Batungwanayo said, is also high when the houses sheltering the infected birds are near dwelling
places because the virus spreads through the air.an/jn/oss/mw
