Pakistan zoo shut after bird flu outbreak

ISLAMABAD: Authorities shut down a zoo in Islamabad and slaughtered an unknown number of birds after the deadly H5N1 flu virus was found in peacocks and geese, officials said on Tuesday.   

The outbreak at Marghzar zoo -- a popular spot near a children's adventure playground that also houses elephants, monkeys and other animals -- is the fourth case of the virus detected in Pakistan this month.   

"We have closed the zoo for two to three days as a preventative measure and are busy vaccinating other birds and spraying the compound," zoo director Raja Javed said.   

Javed said five geese and five peacocks had died due to suspected bird flu at the zoo in past two days and that preliminary tests indicated the deadly H5N1 strain.   

Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry spokesman Mohammad Afzal said test results had confirmed H5N1.   

"We are destroying the affected birds," he said without giving a specific number.   

He said there were no reports from other parts of the South Asian country about any fresh outbreak of bird flu. No human bird flu cases have been recorded in Pakistan.   

Pakistan's first H5N1 cases were detected in March 2006 at two chicken farms in North West Frontier Province.   

After a nine-month gap the virus resurfaced in early February among chickens in Rawalpindi, adjoining Islamabad, and in peacocks in the northwestern city of Mansehra.