A government-appointed committee for combating the H5N1 and H1N1 viruses–known respectively as bird and swine flu–decided Thursday to ban the sale of live poultry nationwide, starting in July.
According to Environment Minister Maged George, live poultry will be gradually phased out to be replaced by frozen poultry produced by licensed slaughterhouses.
The minister said that he planned to hold a conference later this month–in cooperation with the UN, international organizations and local NGOs–to implement a national plan aimed at combating bird flu over the coming three to five years.
A total of 28 Egyptians have died of bird flu since the virus first appeared in 2006.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
