Bird flu kills 2 million birds in Pakistan

cctv.com 01-27-2004 09:24

Pakistan says that an outbreak of the disease among chickens has killed as many as two million birds.

Officials say the strains detected in the southern port city of Karachi are the H7 and H9 varieties, which are less harmful to humans than some strains found elsewhere in Asia.

But the effect on poultry farmers has been devastating. The sale of chicken has dropped almost 50 percent since the news was made public.

It is not immediately clear why authorities have waited until now to announce the outbreak in Pakistan. But it is the latest country to be hit by the bird flu, which has also struck Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Editor:Han  Source:CCTV.com