4 people brought to Bucharest hospital with bird f

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   Four people brought to Bucharest hospital with bird flu-like symptoms
 http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=26494
Oana Dan 

More and more people have been tested at the Contagious Diseases Institute for bird flu, while the strain keeps spreading, rousing controversy between central and local authorities.
Three people from Brasov County were rushed to the Matei Bals Contagious Diseases Institute in Bucharest, as local sanitary inspectors believe they might be infected with the bird flu virus.
A 31-year-old man and his 3-year-old son, along a the 17-year-old teenager are to be admitted at the Matei Bals Institute and thorough medical investigations will be carried out.

Doctors in Brasov fear that the teenager, who had been working at the farm where the outbreak was discovered last week, might be infected with the virus, as he is breathing with difficulty and is feeling very dizzy.

An electrician, employed at the Codlea farm and who is currently in hospital for medical investigations complained that the people admitted to the central hospital in Fagaras town, in Brasov County are poorly treated.

Florin Panturoiu said that they are not given food and are kept in extremely bad conditions, although they are all feeling alright. "I never thought I would be living in such harsh conditions," he said yesterday. He said that even after the virus was discovered at the farm, he and other five colleagues continued to work for a couple of days, as no one had told them about the outbreak. However, the tests showed that all the employees of the farm were ok.

On Wednesday a man who was working with the disinfectant teams in Brasov County was admitted to the hospital after he was hit by a car which did not stop at the disinfection filter.

Also, in Codlea, Brasov County quarantine was installed one week after the first dead chickens were discovered at a farm in the town. Inspectors have discovered that the farm had been functioning without a veterinarian for about three months. The farm's owner said that it is not his fault, as he has sent samples to be tested by the Sanitary Veterinary authorities, but all they received were phone calls, informing them the fowl were ok.

Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur announced two days ago that Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu agreed that the directors of the Sanitary Veterinary Agency in Brasov will be dismissed for the improper way they handled the recent bird flu outbreak. The residents of Codlea complained about the quarantine measure, which forces them stay inside the town. However, most of the people in the town work in Brasov and fear that they might get fired if they do not show up for work.

At the same time, inhabitants of a village in Vrancea County, where the virus's presence was also confirmed, protested against the authorities' decision to cull all their birds. Meanwhile, the H5 virus continues to spread in other areas of the country. Rapid tests confirmed yesterday the presence of the H5 strain in the town of Ploiesti after the local authorities were informed that five chickens were found dead in a yard in the center of the town.

The Agriculture minister announced yesterday more and more measures against the spreading of the virus, saying that the situation keeps them on alert and explaining that many central and local institutions put in extra efforts to stop and prevent the virus spreading. Flutur also said that he has asked all the Sanitary Veterinary Agencies in the country to check the chicken farms in the country.

Inspectors discovered a farm yesterday in Alba County which functioned without respecting the minimum hygiene rules. The minister urged local inspectors to have lists with all the people who worked with the infected birds, so that they all are tested.

Yesterday the flu was confirmed in Brasov as well, causing authorities to consider the idea of introducing quarantine measures in the city. The sanitary inspectors in Timis County fined several stores, warehouses and meat preparation units, as they found numerous irregularities.
Bucharest authorities start controls in Sector 2
The mayor of Sector 2 announced that veterinary inspectors are running tests and controls in the outskirts of the sector where there are many people living in houses who also have birds. General Mayor Adriean Videanu said that all sector mayors have to send teams to control the outskirts of their sectors. 

The first checks started in Dobroiesti neighborhood, where most of the people became frightened when they saw the mixed teams of police agents and sanitary inspectors, fearing that they will take away the birds. 
The recent outbreak of bird flu in the country caused significant damages to the meat industry, as sales dropped by 70-80 percent since the virus was first discovered in the country in October last year. 

The H5 virus rapidly spread in eight counties in several days, where there are 12 to 14 outbreak points and also dozens of flu suspicions in many localities. 

The spokesman of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dick Thompson, said in an interview for a radio station, that it is unlikely for humans to get the virus from the infected birds. He explained that the organization has never encountered a single case where a human was infected with the virus after consuming chicken meat. 