Economy

Uganda says no bird flu in human beings

flu

People cross into Kenya from Uganda. Fears arose after the government last week confirmed the outbreak of bird flu on some parts of Lake Victoria shores. PHOTO | FILE

The Ugandan government yesterday said no citizen had contracted the dreaded bird flu virus, contrary to last week’s claim by fishermen at Lutembe beach.

Acting Health director Anthony Mbonye said he had deployed a team to Lutembe and Bussi areas on the shores of Lake Victoria last week where they confirmed the suspected cases were ‘alarmist’ reports.

Dr Mbonye, who is heading a national task-force on bird flu, assured residents that the situation was under control, dismissing claims that a fisherman at Lutembe had symptoms similar to those of the flu.

He told the New Vision newspaper that carcasses of white-winged black terns had been collected for testing.

The fears arose after the government last week confirmed the outbreak of bird flu on some parts of Lake Victoria shores.

On January 2, many deaths of the white-winged black terns at Lutembe Bay were reported, prompting an alert from the Ministry of Agriculture, which collected samples.

A second report followed from Masaka where five ducks and a chicken died at Kachanga village in Bukakata sub-county, prompting an alert and reactivation of the bird flu task force.

The carcasses were delivered to the National Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Entebbe where it was confirmed that the deaths were due to bird flu.

READ: Uganda avian flu poses risk of heavy losses to Kenyan farmers