Newsroom
A total of nineteen people in Cyprus who were exposed last month to cases of birds infected with Avian Influenza virus were said to be in the clear, with health officials saying nobody developed any symptoms.
In late November health officials in the Republic of Cyprus instructed the owers of two farms in Famagusta district to go under self-observation after cases of Avian Influenza were detected, with hundreds of poultry and wild birds culled to avoid an outbreak.
Athanasiou told Knews on Wednesday that no tests were carried out on the 19 people involved, which included two owners initially described as suspected cases
According to Health Ministry spokesperson Constantinos Athanasiou, 15 government administrators and 4 people associated with the private bird collections were ordered to self-monitor for 10 days and report if they developed any symptoms.
Athanasiou told Knews on Wednesday that no tests were carried out on the 19 people involved, which included two owners initially described as suspected cases.
“All these people were not quarantined, they were instructed to remain under observation just in case,” Athanasiou said, adding that nobody reported any symptoms.
The health official went on to clarify that the self-monitoring period lasted for 10 days and further clarified that seeing no symptoms meant there was no human infection.
Cypriot health officials say there is no vaccine that can protect humans against bird flu.
Avian influenza resembles common flu while people handling poultry are at a higher risk of getting infected and in some cases bird flu can be more severe for humans.
Bird flu is usually transported from one country to another through migratory birds.
The health scare took place in Cyprus as Europe also battles a rapid surge of cases across member states.
