Saudi minister denies rumours of bird flu

Riyadh: The Ministry of Agriculture has declared that Saudi Arabia is free from bird flu amid strong rumours of an outbreak of the disease in the kingdom.

Minister of Agriculture Dr Fahd Bal Gunaim told residents not to panic.

"There were no cases of H5N1 strain of bird flu reported so far in the kingdom.

"The government has adopted a transparent approach in tackling this issue and has taken all the precautionary measures against an outbreak of the disease," he said.

He added that the ministry was closely monitoring and conducting regular inspections of poultry farms. Inaugurating the second seminar on the poultry industry in the kingdom in Riyadh yesterday, Dr Gunaim said: "There is no basis for these rumours and they should be rejected outright."

Dr Gunaim noted that the ministry has renewed the ban on hunting of all kinds of migratory birds.

The minister also agreed with the decision of the National Commission for Wildlife Protection and Development for conducting surveys of birds across the kingdom.

"The commission had identified some places where migratory birds arrive in large numbers. Samples collected and tested proved that there were no symptoms of avian flu in the country," he said.