According to a UN official monitoring avian influenza, Middle East nations need to brace themselves for the possibility of bird flu outbreaks, now that the disease has appeared in Turkey.

UN Coordinator for Avian Influenza David Nabarro said that government officials in nations bordering Turkey need to be concerned about their capabilities to control animal disease and to launch public education campaigns about disease.

The first human cases of H5N1 – the viral strain first identified in Asian poultry and now moving westward – appeared in Turkey in early January. The official number of cases confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) stood at 15 on January 10, but some media reports say more than 40 cases of the human form of the illness are being investigated.

Nabarro added that nations in the region need to make sure that their veterinary services are capable, equipped and prepared to move rapidly upon the appearance of disease outbreaks in their poultry populations. 

It’s not actually easy to initiate a cull of diseased chickens,” said Nabarro.