5,000 birds fall fowl
Authorities in Pakistan's port city of Karachi confirmed H5N1 virus on February 1 in poultry farms on the city's outskirts. The poultry director of Sindh province, Ali Akbar Soomro, said that the National Reference Laboratory of Islamabad found the virus in samples taken on January 28.
In December 2007, eight bird flu cases were detected in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. One person succumbed to the disease. Pakistan's health ministry spokesperson said that humans have not been affected this time.
The latest outbreak has claimed 5,000 birds. Pakistan animal husbandry authorities have culled thousands of birds. Three poultry workers are in the isolation ward of Karachi's Civil Hospital. Nine others are in the observation at another health facility. But none of them have shown any signs of infection.