NIAMEY,
February 28, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The West
African country of Niger is enlisting the help of teachers and Islamic
schools to promote awareness among its impoverished population how to
fight a bird flu outbreak.
"I
wish to ask teachers to begin their lessons with bird flu, and how each
person must act in this worrying situation," Public Health Minister
Ary Ibrahim said on state television on Monday, February 27, reported
Reuters.
He
asserted that the country's marabouts, or Islamic preachers, "must
do the same thing in their Qur'anic schools and during their
sermons".
"Every
child who is taught how to protect themselves can in turn educate their
parents," he said.
Thousands
of young people attend Islamic schools across the overwhelmingly Muslim
country.
"Every
child who is taught how to protect themselves can in turn educate their
parents," maintained the minister.
Muslims
make up some 80 percent of 11.b million population of Niger, the
second-poorest country in the world.
The
deadly bird flu has killed tens of millions of birds since 2003.
Of
the confirmed 172 cases of human infections at least 92 have died of the
deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, especially in Asia.
Detected
 |
|
Vallat
confirmed that bird flu reached Niger.
|
Tests
on domestic ducks from Niger have shown positive results for H5N1 bird
flu, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) said Monday.
"The
virus has entered Niger," said Bernard Vallat, the head of the
Paris-based agency, citing analyses carried out in Italy on samples sent
a few days ago.
He
confirmed that the strain was the highly pathogenic H5N1, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Livestock
Resources Minister Djina Abdoulaye told AFP that the government was
still to hear from European laboratories that conducted tests on poultry
found dead in the southern Margaria area, about 20 kilometers (12 miles)
from the border with already infected Nigeria.
But
the Italian laboratory at Padua said the virus had been detected in a
duck that died on a farm at Margaria.
It
was the only one that tested positive out of 36 samples sent to the
laboratory from ducks, chickens and turkeys in various parts of the
country, it said.
There
was no immediate indication of what culling or other measures will be
taken.
"Control
and reaction measures must be taken and we will be present to assist,
with of course the support of donor countries, because their aid is
indispensable," said Joseph Domenech, chief veterinary officer of
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
International
donors have pledged $1.9 billion to support a global fund to combat bird
flu.
He
said that Niger was not underestimating the impact of bird flu,
"unlike Nigeria," but added that local people "live off
their farms and an enormous effort of persuasion and constraint is
needed."
Niger
had already banned poultry imports and transport of poultry between
different regions of the country in a bid to prevent the disease
spreading, and proposes to compensate farmers and householders 1,000 CFA
francs ($1.81) per domestic bird destroyed in any cull.
Scientists
fear that the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance it will
mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans and spark
a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives.
Also
check:
