almotamar.net google alert - Sana'a, Yemen - A Yemeni official said Wednesday authorities were testing farm chickens after reports about the death of poultry in two Yemeni governorates of the country. "We received several reports from farmers during the past few days about the death of birds," Ghalib al-Eryani of the Agriculture Ministry told the official Saba news agency.
In an exclusive statement to almotamar.net Dr al-Eryani three specialised teams headed Wednesday for the governorates of Lahj, Taiz and Ibb for intensive survey and checks in poultry farms there.
He said concerns were high that the birds were infected by the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus.
"Procedures have been taken to combat the strain, and imports from infected countries were banned," the official said.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia has culled more than 200,000 birds since mid-November after the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus in a central region of the kingdom.