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RIYADH - THE Saudi agriculture ministry announced on Monday that it has ordered a further 22,500 ostriches culled following the confirmation of a new outbreak of bird flu in the desert kingdom.
The outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the disease that is dangerous to humans was detected on a farm in Al-Kharj region, 80 kilometres south of Riyadh, said a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The ministry ordered 13,500 ostriches destroyed after the disease was reported on a nearby farm last week.
Up until the end of November, the Saudi authorities ordered nearly four million birds culled in the face of at least 14 separate outbreaks of avian influenza.
There have been no reports of the disease spreading to humans in the oil-rich kingdom.
The H5N1 strain first emerged in Asia in 2003, and has caused more than 200 deaths in humans, with Indonesia and Vietnam among the worst-hit countries, according to World Health Organisation figures.
Pakistan on Saturday confirmed its first death from the bird flu virus. -- AFP
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