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AHIC- 16^th March 2009 -Kenya is on high alert over a possible outbreak of bird flu, also known as Avian Flu. The warning was issued by Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Kenya Veterinary Department and Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) officials attending an East African region sensitization workshop in Nairobi.

Mr. Michael Cheruiyot, a veterinary official said, "Kenya is vulnerable since we fall on the wild bird migratory path to and from Asia and Eastern Europe”. This factor has made the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO) think puts several East African countries at a critical risk of an outbreak of the virus. However he added that the country was taking enough precautionary measures in case the disease is reported in the country.

Ms Monique Wasunna, KEMRI’s Infectious Disease Specialist, advised Kenyans to avoid eating poultry meat that is not inspected and sleeping in the same room with poultry birds.

Kenyan poultry farmers are mostly small-scale keepers, who use their houses to rear domestic birds. The ability of most African countries to deal with a large scale outbreak of the dangerous virus is still in doubt due to poverty and lack of infrastructure

Six African countries have so far reported cases of bird flu in their countries .These includes Ivory Coast , Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. In Egypt a18-month-old child contracted the H5N1 bird flu virus on 10 March, bringing the number of human cases in Egypt to 58 since records began in 2006, and raising a lot of concern among scientists