Saudi Gazette report
JEDDAH — Poultry sales continued in some popular markets despite the decision of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to ban it in various regions of the Kingdom as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of bird flu.
During a field tour by Madina newspaper in one of the markets selling poultry in Jeddah, the sellers confirmed that they did not receive any notification on the precautionary ban.
A number of amateur bird buyers demanded the authorities to intensify field inspections and punish of the violators.
Salman Al-Tamrani called for intensifying field supervision on the sale of birds of all kinds. He pointed out that there is fear among bird breeders of avian influenza spreading to the rest of the birds due to poor hygiene in these shops and low standards of health and environmental safety measures.
Saeed Abdullah, an amateur bird buyer and breeder said, "I heard the news of the ban, but the reality is different in the markets where the sales still continues."
He added, "Yesterday I bought a bird, but I did not trust the seller's cleanliness, so I preferred to do the cleaning myself to avoid the transmission of diseases to the birds I have at home."
Mohammed Nizam, one of the sellers, said some veterinary teams took random samples from birds, especially chicken, about five days ago.
"They did not tell us anything about a ban. We were told not to display infected birds or poultry," he said. "They told us that in case the samples tested positive, the shops will be closed."
Nuri Al-Salam, a salesman, confirmed that sales shrunk by about 50 percent during the last 10 days. Al-Salam attributed the decline to the fear of buying sick birds by customers, as well as the fear of sellers of fined for accidently displaying sick birds.
Director of the Department of Health and Veterinary Control at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture Dr. Ali Al-Duwaij explained to Al-Madina that the decision to ban the sale of birds at the popular markets was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of infection to new areas.
