Saudi Arabia Flu Suspect

 

# 762

 

 

This report from Crofsblog, of a suspected human case, reported in the Bahrain Times.

 

 

Chicken culled on bird flu fears

 

A team from the Agricultural Affairs in Hail incinerated the remaining chickens found in a rest house in Al Hadriyeen District, as they were suspected of carrying bird flu, The Saudi Gazette reports.

Several chickens were incinerated at the rest house on Tuesday and a 40-year-old Indian worker was admitted to the isolation room of the Hail General Hospital on suspicion that he was suffering from bird flu.

Four people known to have come into contact with him were examined and given medication to be taken for one week. Blood samples from chicken were sent to the Ministry of Agriculture in Riyadh and the test results are expected on Thursday.

(cont.)

 

As always, all suspected cases are simply that: suspected,  until tests come back. 

 

One of our great Achilles' heels when dealing with avian flu is the testing.  It can take days to get the results.  Often repeated tests are necessary, and even then, we don't always have confidence in their results.