The Ministry of Agriculture has issued a supplementary statement announcing detection of a highly dangerous case of Bird Flu (H5N1) at Hijrat al-Barat in Al-Kharj governorate, Riyadh region. The statement said the detection of the case took place on Thursday, (November 22, 2007) at one of the poultry farms for the production of table eggs. The statement noted that the ministry in coordination with the other concerned authorities notably the Interior Ministry, King Khalid hospital of Kharj and the municipalities of Kharj, Hayathem and Dalam has immediately taken the required and precautionary measures in line with the emergency plan in this respect. All the birds at the farm were killed and the site was cleaned and the farm was closed, the statement said. The statement urged the breeders and producers of poultry to take the preventive and precautionary measures, and to make sure that the migrating birds don't find their way to sheds or storages of fodders or to drinking and cooling water. The statement also urged the owners of poultry farms as well as citizens and residents to immediately report if suspicious cases appear through contacting telephone number 014030911 or the toll free number 8002470000 or the nearest branch of the agriculture ministry. It underscored the importance of avoiding hunting of all kinds of the migrating birds by any means. The statement reiterated that the cases announced do not constitute any danger for consumption of poultry and eggs that are produced by the poultry projects in the Kingdom which are always under surveillance.
