LAHORE, 19 February 2008 (IRIN) - Just as Pakistan was beginning to heave a sigh of relief over the fact that the threat of avian flu, which had surfaced in the southern port city of Karachi early in February, had not grown into a full-scale crisis, the disease has resurfaced.

No new cases had been reported for almost two weeks, but a new outbreak has been confirmed in the town of Abbotabad, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

According to the country's Food and Agriculture Ministry, samples sent from a poultry farm in the area, where chickens had died, had tested positive for the virus. Further testing in and around the Abbotabad area, where many poultry farms are located, is continuing.

With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), facilities to treat patients with the virus have been set up at hospitals, and health workers placed on high alert.

WHO has been closely monitoring the situation since the first death of a human in Pakistan due to the H5NI virus was reported in Peshawar, NWFP's provincial capital, in November 2007.

Advertising campaign

"I was quite worried about the possible spread of this disease, and stopped buying chicken for a few days. But I feel much safer now after seeing the public awareness advertisements on TV," said housewife Rukhsana Kulsoom, 30, at a poultry shop at a Lahore market.

The advertising campaign, launched by the Food Ministry in conjunction with the Pakistan Poultry Association, has been widely aired in the media.

It advises people to exercise care while handling chickens and to ensure meat is properly cooked. It has helped dispel panic by affirming that meat or eggs cooked at high temperature will not cause bird flu.

Such an awareness-raising campaign is vital as thousands of poultry farms are dotted across the country and chicken meat is commonly consumed.

However, the president of the Poultry Association of Pakistan, Abdul Basit, has been quoted as saying that the giant industry, one of the biggest in Pakistan, had been "badly hit" and had suffered "massive losses" in February alone.

Lingering doubts

At the same time, there are lingering doubts as to whether official messages regarding awareness raising are filtering through to the right places.

Pakistan's poultry industry employs an estimated 1.5 million people, according to the Pakistan Poultry Association. Many among these individuals are illiterate and have little access to information on avian flu.

Many people keep small flocks of birds, for domestic or commercial purposes, within their homes and are often also unaware of the risks or symptoms of bird flu in chickens.

"I have to earn a living, slaughtering and cleaning birds sold here. I have heard there is a disease, but I am not in a position to do anything to safeguard myself," said Abdul Rafiq, 55, who works at a poultry shop in Lahore.

Like most people who work with poultry, he has no gloves or masks - equipment that the official awareness drive recommends everyone handling chickens use.

It is also unclear, due to a lack of data, whether the virus may be lurking in remote, rural farms, potentially posing a risk for Pakistan as a whole.

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