Int’l - Mauritania submits bird flu prevention plan at global conference

The government of Mauritania, considered a high-risk country for avian flu, has submitted a national prevention plan against the disease to international peers at a conference in Nouakchott. The prevention plan would require global financing estimated at 4.63 million US dollars (3,65 million euros). Millions of birds migrate to Mauritania each year from Europe, via the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean and tropical paths through Africa. This migratory pattern and the existence of "zones of high humidity" place the country in a high-risk category. The plan would protect populations bordering the high humidity zones from risks associated with underground poultry hunting and backyard breeding in small villages. Mauritania is bracing itself against a period when migratory birds return for the winter and commercial activity steps up, factors that could invite the spreading of avian flu, according to Economy Minister Mohamed Ould Abed. The main high humidity zones in the north of the country receive approximately 400,000 birds of 120 species from Europe, according to recent studies. In addition, 2.5 million migratory birds fly into Arguin Bank National Park, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Nouakchott, each year, the largest concentration of birds in the world. As of October, 252 confirmed human cases of avian flu have been reported, 148 of them fatal, according to the World Health Organization.