Saudi Arabia confirms bird flu case at farm in Riyadh

The case is the first outbreak of the H5N8 virus in Saudi Arabia since July 2018

PARIS: Saudi Arabia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus on a poultry farm, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday.

The outbreak, which occurred in the central Sudair region, killed 22,700 birds, the OIE said, citing a report from the Saudi agriculture ministry.

The other 385,300 birds in the flock were slaughtered, it said.

The case was the first outbreak of the H5N8 virus in Saudi Arabia since July 2018.

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The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture revealed that a case of highly pathogenic bird flu (H5N8) had been recorded at a poultry farm in the capital and authorities had taken necessary measures on-site to prevent any spread of the virus.

Abdullah Aba Al-Khail, spokesperson of the ministry, said that according to the World Health Organisation, H5N8 was a strain that only affected birds and could not be transmitted to humans.

Aba Al-Khail added that field emergency teams attended the farm immediately after receiving notification of the case and implemented procedures for dealing with the virus.

(With additional input from Xinhua)