The Ministry of Health in Pakistan has confirmed 8 human cases of H5N1 avian influenza infection (Bird Flue) in the North West Frontier Province of the Pakistan out of which two brothers of district Mansehra have died, but ministry of health has confirmed just one brother infected with H5N1 virus and tried to keep it a secret.
Almost ten days after the death of these two brothers, Media received information on 13th December, ministry of health tried to stop this news but the news appeared in some newspapers and TV channels, due to which Secretary Health Khushnood Akhtar Lashari got angry on ministry’s staff. But due to immense pressure from international organisations government released actual data on 15th December in which it was confirmed that two brothers Ilyas and Tariq who used to work on a poultry farm, died of H5N1 virus, besides this 6 cases were confirmed in District Abbottabad of NWFP but according to ministry of health they were cured. It is the first time in the history of bird flu in Pakistan that, this deadly virus infected humans but it is beyond comprehension that why the ministry of Health tried to keep this important news secret?    
Multiple poultry outbreaks of H5N1 influenza have been occurring in Pakistan since 2006. In 2007, there have also been outbreaks in wild birds. A majority of the outbreaks discovered have been in the ‘poultry belt’ of North West Frontier Province, particularly in the Abbottabad and Mansehra area and cases of infection in wild birds have been identified in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
In the past, Pakistan faced a strain of the flu that had been found in the southern port of Karachi and it had to destroy 3.5 million birds in 2004 and causing loss amounting 13 billion rupees to the poultry sector.
The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed tens of millions of birds since 2003 till December 2007 and there have been at least 648 confirmed cases of the strain spreading to humans, causing about 418 deaths, in Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam and now in Pakistan.

The virus has spread from Asia to Eastern Europe and Nigeria, Africa’s first known outbreak of the deadly strain of the disease.
H5N1 virus was first shown to have passed from birds to humans in 1997, during an outbreak of avian influenza among poultry in Hong Kong. The virus caused severe respiratory illness in 18 people, six of whom died. The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has killed at least 91 people around the world, mainly in Southeast Asia, since it emerged in 2003.
Many scientists believe migrating wild fowl are responsible for carrying the virus from Asia and Siberia to Romania and Turkey. Moreover, although some argue there is not enough evidence yet for firm conclusions.
“Scientists are increasingly convinced that at least some migratory waterfowl are now carrying the H5N1 virus in its highly pathogenic form, sometimes over long distances, and introducing the virus to poultry flocks in areas that lie along their migratory routes,” the World Health Organisation said in its report.
Scientists have found that viruses from the most recently affected countries, all of which lie along migratory routes, were almost identical to viruses recovered from dead migratory birds at Qinghai Lake in China. The viruses from Turkey’s first human cases were also virtually identical to the Qinghai Lake strain.
Human cases of bird flu have caused infections and death across the globe as scientists struggle to identify the dangerous strains and prevent a fatal pandemic.
To prevent the spread of bird flu in Pakistan, government had prepared an action plan worth US$ 6.8 million to control and prevent the disease and the government has already approved an other project of Rs39.85 million to control the avian influenza in the country.
A network of 12 satellite labs had been established to diagnose avian influenza and these labs were located in Karachi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad.
Laboratory surveillance has so far contained more than 12,000 blood samples, 7,000 tissue samples and 9,000 cloacal swabs but bird flu strain H5N1 has not been detected in the country so far," official noted.
Rapid response teams have been established in the country to handle the situation and its strength has been increased from 6 to 24 that were stationed at Gilgit, Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad, Quetta, Karachi and Abbottabad. The numbers of sero-surveillance teams have been increased from 12 to 22.
Avian influenza had been reported at bordering countries including India, Iran and China in addition to South East Asia and border trade could bring infection in the country.
Government should create awareness among the masses about the disease. People ought to know that the disease is not transmitted through cooked chicken and eggs. Infection occurs when meat is still raw or frozen. Even upon contact with the infected bird, washing one’s hands with soap and water kills the virus.
The earlier the infection is detected, the more amenable it is to treatment.
Local medical experts have said that neither preventive nor treatable medicines are available to fight against bird flu virus and the available vaccination is highly expensive.
In collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pakistan needs to equip itself against a breakout. The H5N1 strain of avian influenza is so virulent and spreads so fast among poultry that there is no alternative but to curb the disease at source.
Culling of poultry is imminent, though it would be a great setback for the Rs100 billion poultry industry.