DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior health official in Tanzania has assured the public that the east African country is safe and secure from the deadly bird flu virus.
Mariam Mwaffisi, permanent secretary in the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and the country's acting chief medical officer, assured local people that there is no cause for alarm as no single case, real or suspect, had been reported in the country.
The health official was responding to warnings issued by the World Health Organization that a global pandemic of the bird flu is a possibility at anytime to kill between 5 million and 150 million people around the world.
"Since the pandemic has moved to wild migratory birds there is a high possibility that the first outbreak could happen even in Africa or in the Middle East," warned the World Health Organization.
Mwaffisi said that strict surveillance mechanisms were already in place to detect any infection in the country.
First detected in 2003, the bird flu virus has since claimed the lives of 65 people in four Asian countries. The virus has affected millions of poultry in Asia.
The virus is spreading to affect birds in Russia and Europe. Enditem
|
