Saudi in new bird flu cull

CULLS CONTINUE: Saudi Arabia’s agriculture ministry has announced a fresh outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus on a farm 80km south of Riyadh. (AFP)

The Saudi agriculture ministry ordered a cull of 158,000 chickens on Tuesday following the confirmation of a new outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu that is dangerous to humans.

The outbreak was detected on a poultry farm in the Al-Kharj region, 80 kilometres south of Riyadh, said a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Since the latest outbreak of bird flu was discovered on November 15, some four million birds have been culled on at least 15 separate infected farms.

Saudi Arabia also reported an outbreak of avian influenza last March.

An Agriculture Ministry official told ArabianBusiness.com in December the economic impact of the disease had so far been limited, with the number of birds culled representing less than 1% of the kingdom’s poultry population.

Farmers affected by the outbreak will receive government compensation of 80% of total losses, however birds must be killed by the ministry for farmers to be eligible.

There have been no reports of the disease spreading to humans in the oil-rich kingdom.

Worldwide, H5N1 has killed more than 200 people since 2003, most of them in Asia, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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