Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Amin Abaza unveiled that his ministry would prepare a study to determine the types of serums and vaccines the companies import from outside and set new conditions on private companies importing anti-bird flu vaccines.
He said the most important of these conditions is that the companies must be registered in the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and that the vaccine must be effective against the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu in Egypt.
Commenting on the paper's yesterday exclusive report about the doubts over the validity of vaccines imported by these companies, the minister told al-Masry al-Youm that it is a scientific fact that the vaccine is not 100% effective against the disease, as its efficiency ranges between 75% and 90%, and that the circulation of vaccine is as important as the type of vaccine used in immunization, indicating that the ineffectiveness of vaccines imported from abroad is not in the interest of companies importing the vaccines.
He noted that about more than one billion anti-bird flu doses have been imported either by the state or the private sector since February 17, 2006. "All of these doses have been tested in the ministry's Institute of Veterinary Vaccines," he added.
Abaza stressed that all the vital safety regulations would be strictly applied and stringently enforced through the control of veterinary services affiliated with the General Authority for Veterinary Services, indicating that the increased number of infections in recent weeks were mainly attributable to the fact that many poultry farms are lax in applying vital safety standards, making them believe that they have entirely brought the virus under control.
Abaza accused some owners of farms where bird flu infections are reported of selling the remaining stock in the other coops in several provinces, contributing to the spread of the virus to other areas instead of culling all birds in all the farm's coops. He maintained that this behavior is a crime against citizens and the State.
