Saudi fears of bird flu outbreak were intensified with the approach of hajj season.

RIYADH, November 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A health expert has called for calling off hajj in January over fears of an outbreak of a bird flu pandemic during the Muslim ritual, which draws up to two million pilgrims from all over the world, as Australia warned that a global blowup was increasingly likely.

"If Saudi authorities discover a sporadic human case of bird flu in Makkah then extreme and immediate action will be needed," Didier Pittet, director of the Infection Control Program at Geneva's University Hospitals, was quoted as saying by Reuters Monday, November 21.

"If a second and similar case is spotted in the same area then you have a clustering of cases, you suspect there are other forms of transmission," Pittet said.

"If they discover a human-to-human bird flu they should call off the hajj," he added.

Official figures put the total number of pilgrims performing last year's hajj at 1,892,710, with 1,419,706 from abroad and 473,004 Saudis and other Muslim residents of the kingdom.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, once in their lifetime.

Hajj consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.

Abbott warned that a global outbreak of bird flu pandemic was likely inescapable.

Fears of a bird flu outbreak have been high in the oil-rich kingdom since reports on November 6 that chickens perished in a farm in southeastern Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Minister of Hajj Affairs Hamed Al-Manae said that no bird flu case was detected in the oil-rich kingdom.

He maintained that all necessary precautions were taken by the Saudi authorities to prevent an outbreak of the avian flu.

"The authorities have tightened checks on people coming into the country from the land and air entries," he told a press conference on the sidelines of an international conference on bird flu in Riyadh.

"In addition, the authorities have launched intensive vaccination campaigns against common human flu among pilgrims."

Amine Mishkhas, head of infectious diseases at the health ministry, added centers in three key cities, including Jeddah --a key entry point for pilgrims – have been opened to track down bird flu cases.

"We are making sure only fit and healthy Muslim can enter Saudi Arabia for the hajj," said Sahal Al-Sabban, a senior official at the Ministry of Hajj Affairs.

He added that throughout Saudi history, cities like Makkah, Al-Madinah and Jeddah, have been worst hit by deadly diseases like plague, cholera and meningitis during the hajj.

The deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has killed 67 people in five countries in Asia over the past two years. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, has confirmed seven deaths.

The virus cannot pass among people the way ordinary seasonal flu does, but experts fear it could mutate into a form which can be transmitted from person to person.

Commenting on bird flu and the prevention of Hajj this year, Sheikh Masud Sabry, PhD Islamic researcher and Islamic researcher with IOL Fatwa section says: "Throughout the history of Islam, no single jurist called for canceling Hajj for any reason or under any pretext, no matter what epidemics or incidents have taken place. This call for canceling this year’s Hajj entails canceling one of the rituals of Islam which is prohibited, principally, by Islam".

"Having said that, it should be added that Saudi Arabia, on its part, should take all the necessary measures and precautions to block any possibility of the outbreak of this disease," he adds.

"As for infected Muslims, they should first seek treatment; it is haram (prohibited) for them to go to Hajj this year. This ruling goes in line with the juristic opinion that hajj is not a prompt obligation but rather a wajib `ala At-trakhi (an obligation that can be delayed and performed in any year).

"Even if we consider the other juristic opinion that hajj is a prompt obligation (wajib `ala al-faur, i.e.  a prompt obligation; an obligation that should be performed as soon as possible), it is still prohibited for such an infected person to go to hajj since this can lead to harming other pilgrims.

"It  is also prohibited to falsify a certificate that he is free of this disease, as this, too, will inevitably lead to harming others, which is categorically forbidden in the Qur’an: "(And those who hurt believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.)" (Al-Ahzab 33: 58)

Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott has warned that a global outbreak of bird flu pandemic was likely inescapable.

"The world is, we think, overdue for a new pandemic and it's quite likely that the next pandemic will be a serious one," Abbott told the Australian Industry Group event Tuesday, November 22, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The minister said the risk of a bird flu pandemic was about 10 percent in any given year.

He said a global pandemic was likely to emerge in Southeast Asia, which has so far accounted for almost all of the deaths from the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Experts have warned that a pandemic could kill millions of people worldwide.

The H5N1 strain first emerged in Hong Kong in 1997, when it caused the death or destruction of 1.5 million birds. Eighteen people fell ill, of whom six died.

It re-emerged in 2003 in South Korea and has spread to China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia.