Bird flu scare in Binyamina petting zoo
Agriculture Ministry culls poultry at small chicken coop in local kindergarten after 18 of 25 chickens in place are found dead. Area quarantined and tests being carried out to determine whether virus caused fowls' death
Agriculture Ministry officials suspect that the bird flu virus may have infected chickens at a petting zoo in a Binyamina kindergarten, following the death of 18 of the 25 chickens in the place.
The poultry had been culled and a 6-mile quarantined area has been declared around the site to prevent the possible spread of the virus. Laboratory tests are currently being carried out to determine the cause of the fowls' death.
The kindergarten has been closed until further notice.
All other chicken coops in the area have been examined as well.
A state comptroller report published last May indicated that the Agriculture Ministry was inadequately prepared to deal with an outbreak of bird flu.
The comptroller found that in 2006, the ministry was warned of the danger and began to prepare itself for a potential epidemic, but the ministry's veterinary services were insufficient for this purpose.
The ministry was not prepared for an outbreak of the bird flu in multiple locations; instead of training professional sources, who could be on call in an event of multiple incidents, it was content in training workers to deal with an outbreak in only one location.
