Following spreading of avian flue in a number of countries, a royal decree has been issued for forming a high committee to be assigned for setting a comprehensive plan for protecting the citizens and residents in the Kingdom from the disease. The joint committees are in a state of continuous meeting and coordination for following the developments of the disease and defining the duties of each relative body in accordance with their specialized fields. On its part, the Ministry of Health is working on a comprehensive national plan for confronting the disease, taking into consideration the preventive and treatment aspects of fighting the disease, especially as the Ministry of Agriculture have discovered new cases in the Eastern Province.
The official speaker of the Ministry of Health Dr. Khalid Al-Marghalani said the plan approved by the Minister of Health concentrates mainly on preventive measures and actions for controlling new cases. The plan aims to protect the Kingdom from avian flue through controlling its prevalence, preventing it from spreading among humans, and lowering resultant morbidities, mortalities and social disturbances. It includes follow up of new worldwide epidemics through the websites of WHO and the US Disease Combating Center, in addition to taking necessary precautions through monitoring, diagnosing and treating new human cases.
According to Al-Marghalani, the Ministry of Health has updated the central lab in Riyadh as well as the regional labs in Jeddah and Dammam. Specialists from the latter two labs have been trained in the Nemro 3 lab in coordination with the WHO regional office for Eastern Mediterranean.
He said the Ministry of Health has secured the Tamiflo drug which is used for protecting contacts and other highly susceptible persons such as workers in poultries, lab workers who deal with the disease samples, those who are caring with the elderly, and those who are suffering from chronic diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, and all immunosuppressed cases such as AIDS and organ transplant patients.
It is worth mentioning here that the disease affects mainly birds and poultries, but it is also transferable to humans through direct or indirect contact. The symptoms include high temperature, throat pain, coughs, difficulties of breathing, and elementary symptoms such as vomiting.