09.06.2008
A recent government poll reveals, over a quarter of Egyptians who are aware of the dangers of avian influenza continue to raise birds at home despite warnings that this could spread the deadly disease.
With 50 confirmed cases of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in humans since the disease first appeared in early 2006 in the most populous Arab country, Egypt has been the worst-hit nation outside of Asia. Of those infected in Egypt, 22 have died. The poll, which cast a rare glimpse into attitudes of Egyptians towards the disease, said that 48% of Egyptians who previously raised birds in their homes had stopped since avian influenza was first reported in Egypt two years ago. But 28% said they still kept birds at home. Additionally, three-quarters of respondents who ate poultry reported eating freshly slaughtered meat, which 75% said was widely available despite efforts to get Egyptians to switch to frozen meat the government says is safer.
The survey also revealed that 40% of Egyptians had cut their poultry consumption and 16% had eliminated poultry entirely from their diets since the disease hit Egypt. Of those who cut their consumption, 89% cited fear of contracting the disease as a reason.
About five million households in Egypt depend on poultry as a main source of food and income, and the government has said this makes it unlikely the disease can be eradicated despite a large-scale poultry vaccination programme.
The report conducted by The Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (CIDSC) estimated Egypt's total losses due to the deadly strain of H5N1 at LE862 million since the disease appeared in Egypt, until February 2008. These losses resulted from killing 36.8 million birds in Egypt. Since the first outbreak of avian influenza in Egypt in 2006 until the end of 2007, the CIDSC reported that the Ministry of Health and Population has spent LE238 million to provide vaccines for the Avian Influenza virus and launch various types of campaigns to increase people's awareness of the dangers of the deadly strain.