Iraqi health authorities go on bird flu alert

Health authorities went on high alert today following Iraq’s first reported case of the deadly bird flu virus, warning farmers across the country to inspect their domestic and commercial birds.

Five mobile hospitals with special equipment were due to arrive in northern Iraq later today, according to Health Minister Abdel Mutalib Mohammed.

A 20-mile security cordon will be placed around the village where the disease appeared, he added. The measures follow yesterday’s announcement that a 15-year-old girl from northern Iraq who died on January 17 had contracted the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

That was the first confirmed human case of the H5N1 in the Middle East and prompted the slaughter of thousands of domestic birds in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.

The US has offered assistance to Iraqi authorities, while a World Health Organisation team was expected to arrive later in the week to start tests. WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said health authorities are also investigating two more possible bird flu cases.