Pakistan confirms third bird flu case

Islamabad, Feb 10: Health authorities today confirmed a third case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Pakistan, after samples from dead chickens in the capital Islamabad tested positive.

Two cases of the deadly virus in small flocks of chickens and peacocks were reported earlier this week in Rawalpindi, a garrison town adjacent to Islamabad and in the northwest town of Mansehra.

''Samples from a few birds which died at a house in Islamabad on February 4 tested positive for H5N1,'' Mohammad Afzal, Livestock Commissioner at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture told Reuters.

''All the three cases have been reported in domestic poultry.'' First cases of H5N1 in Pakistan were reported in February last year in North West Frontier Province. In all, about 40,000 birds were culled.

There have been no cases of people being infected with the virus in Pakistan.

The virus has killed 166 people in 11 countries and scientists fear it could mutate into a strain that spreads easily among people, triggering a pandemic that would sweep the globe.

Reuters