- JERUSALEM -- Israel suspects journalists, particularly press photographers,
of being behind the spread of deadly bird flu in the Jewish state, an agriculture
ministry official told Agence France-Presse.
-
- "It's one of our working hypotheses,"
the official said, asking not be identified. "Bird flu can be transmitted
on clothing, footwear, the wheels of cars and even on cameras," the
official added.
-
- "The journalists who came to cover
the outbreak then went back to homes and offices across the country. "Even
if the required protective measures were taken, it is impossible to disinfect
photographic equipment without damaging it."
-
- The appearance of bird flu on a string
of farms across Israel during March forced the culling of 1,2-million poultry,
at a total cost, including compensation, of some $5-million. The agriculture
ministry had declared the all-clear last Sunday after that initial flurry
of attacks.But two more cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu have
been confirmed in the past three days -- one at Maale Hamsha near Jerusalem
and one at Kerem Shalom near the Gaza Strip.
-
- The Palestinians have confirmed the deadly
strain in poultry in the territory too.
-
- The World Health Organization issued
an urgent appeal earlier this month for Israel and the international community
to provide the Palestinians with assistance in fighting it, but the issue
has been complicated by the swearing-in on Wednesday of a first-ever government
led by Islamic militants.
-
- Israel has halted all exports of poultry
in the face of the bird-flu outbreak. The European Union has placed a ban
on imports from Israel. -- AFP
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- http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=268248&are
a=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
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