Bird flu feared in Jordan Valley
Ministry of Agriculture checking if dead foul found in Jordan Valley farm died of bird flu
Bird flu outbreak feared in seventh location: The Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday started culling birds at a farm in the Jordan Valley, after the regional veterinary office received reports of dead chicken in a farm of about 20,000 birds.
The Ministry of Agriculture said, however, a bird flu outbreak in the farm is unlikely considering the small number of dead birds. The Ministry said that had it been bird flu thousands of birds would have died.
In recent days, the Ministry has been taking blood samples from birds in farms with high numbers of dead birds.
Results for tests of blood samples taken from foul in the Jordan Valley farm will be available later Wednesday.
Meanwhile, foul found dead in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday were infected with bird flu. It remains unclear if the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain. In addition, blood samples of dead birds found in Rafah have been sent for testing.
Animal rights group: Don’t compensate farmers
The Anonymous animal rights group sent a letter to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and senior cabinet ministers asking the government curb compensation for farmers affected by the outbreak.
The group said farmers should be sued and fine funds should be used to cover the health costs of infected Israelis.
Yaakov Cohen of the Farmers’ Union told Ynet: “That’s their answer at a time of crisis? I prefer to not comment?”
The group said it represents hundreds of thousands of vegetarian individuals in Israel. The letter read: “The government is taking tax payers’ money, in a clear violation of our moral view and our practical choice, and giving it freely to animal abusers. This move is totally unjustified.”
