The Palestinians aregrappling with a spreading outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is also deadly to humans, with a second case detected in the Gaza Strip.

“The H5N1 virus has been discovered in Rafah,” deputy agriculture minister Azzam Tbeileh told AFP. He said measures were being taken to kill all the chickens on the farm in the southern area where the virus had been discovered.

On Wednesday, Israeli tests confirmed the first case of the H5N1 strain in the impoverished territory, in the eastern village of Juhr al-Dik.

The following day, H5N1 was found in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. Israel itself is battling with the strain on six farms.

In an interview with the top-selling Yediot Aharanot newspaper, Israel’s Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said every assistance was being offered to the Palestinians in order to help them deal with the bird flu attack.

“I have instructed the foreign and defence ministries to be in touch with the Palestinians and offer them assistance, including medicine and equipment. I have also turned to the UN and other international bodies such as the World Bank,” he told the daily.

Tags: WHO, Bird Flu, Bird Flu Palestine, Bird Flu Israel