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Middle East Braces for Migrating Birds

Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- As migrating waterfowl begin winging their way toward the warmth of the Middle East, this Persian Gulf nation - with a coastline and wetlands that host millions of wintering birds - is bracing for the arrival of ducks and geese carrying the dreaded bird flu virus.

"We can't sleep, I'm telling you," Majid Al Mansouri, who heads the country's bird flu campaign, said Thursday.

Across the Middle East, countries are stockpiling vaccine and medication, banning poultry and live bird imports, and going on high alert.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has devastated poultry stocks and killed 61 people in Asia, where another death from the disease was confirmed Thursday in Thailand. The disease has spread to birds in Europe, where it has been confirmed in Turkey and Romania in recent weeks, as well as in Russia.

Now the birds blamed for bringing H5N1 to Turkey are headed across the Middle East into Africa.

Half a million birds winter here every year, from enormous eagles to tiny warblers. The rest pass through on their way from Siberia and Central Asia to southern Africa.

The Emirates government has enlisted a special weapon: the legions of bird watchers on the lookout for the 300 species and 2 million migrating birds that spend time in the region.

"We're keeping an eye on the birds coming in so we can report on any that are sick and dying," said Peter Hellyer a bird enthusiast with the Emirates Bird Records Committee.

Government inspectors have fanned out to check poultry farms, halt sale of live chickens and force people who own a few chickens or ducks to slaughter and eat them now or hand them over for destruction. Al Mansouri said many had already been killed. The country, like others in the Gulf, has imported tons of disinfectant and 4 million doses of anti-viral medication.

The H5N1 bird flu strain is easily spread among birds, but difficult for humans to contract. Scientists are worried, however, the strain could trigger a pandemic by mutating into a form easily transmitted between humans.

In the Emirates, there is already cause for concern. Earlier this week, five rare Socotra Cormorants were found dead on the coast of the northern Ras al-Khaimah emirate. And Thursday the corpse of a honey buzzard turned up in Abu Dhabi. All appeared to have died of natural causes, Al Mansouri and Hellyer said.

Al Mansouri's Environmental Agency of Abu Dhabi has identified about a dozen potential hotspots in the Emirates where people, migratory birds and domestic birds, such as chickens, live in close contact.

These are the sandy islands and salt marshes strung out along the coast of the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah; the Dubai Creek and Al-Warsen lakes in Dubai; the Khor al-Beidah lagoon in Umm al-Quwain emirate, and avian stopovers in the desert oasis city of Al Ain. Neighboring Oman hosts similar numbers of migratory birds, Hellyer said.

Specific species attract particular concern. One is the Great Black-headed Gull, due to arrive in early December from East Asia, Hellyer said.

"They're believed to be carriers," he said. "We'd like to catch some when they get here."

Bird watchers are also monitoring migrant ducks, including the Common Teal, now arriving from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Central Asia - including regions where H5N1 made recent appearances.

Reports of sick and dying Teal in Iran this week caused a scare, but tests found no signs of H5N1.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia are enacting similar measures, inspecting farms and banning poultry imports. Kuwait and Lebanon are seeking a ban on hunting of birds.

"We are trying our best to vaccinate our bird population here," said Sameer Khalfan at the Health Ministry in Bahrain, an island nation visited by more than 200 species of birds.

Kuwait has not vaccinated flocks, but will when the disease appears. The Ministry of Public Health is retooling plans prepared during the 2003 invasion of Iraq for dealing with biological or chemical weapons.

Elsewhere, countries are taking similar measures:

- Sudan has banned poultry imports and says it has large quantities of medicine to treat bird flu in humans.

- Syria instituted an import ban and has stockpiled medicine. It is publishing guidelines on cooking chicken and isolating infected animals.

- Israeli and Jordanian veterinary officials discussed how to combat the flu. Israel has said it will respond to any outbreak by destroying poultry within two miles of a confirmed case and vaccinating birds within a six-mile radius. Jordan plans to disinfect poultry farms.

- Lebanon is advising municipalities to empty artificial ponds that can attract migrating birds. Agriculture expert Waddah Fakhri called on the government to put a halt to the smuggling of live poultry and chicken meat from Syria.

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Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon; Diana Elias in Kuwait City and Adnan Malik in Bahrain contributed to this report.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online/By JIM KRANE

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