Deadly diseases, DP’s, refugees and Iraqi airports

Deadly diseases that are making the news.

1)Up to 70% of waterfowl in Vietnam’s southern Mekong delta have tested positive to the bird flu virus strain H5N1. Local veterinary agencies culled 4,620 birds, mainly ducks and chickens, after they detected small outbreaks of bird flu in Hanoi and the three southern localities of Can Tho, Ben Tre and Dong Thap.
Contact: WHO/WPRO
Telephone: (00632) 528.80.01
Fax: (00632) 521.10.36 or 536.02.79
Email: postmaster@wpro.who.int

2)Iran is taking steps to stop a cholera outbreak in its early stages after 56 people were diagnosed with the disease, the World Health Organization said, adding that three more had died from it. Most cases were among Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims who had come from Pakistan and Afghanistan, particularly those visiting the central seminary city of Qom. However, there were also several cases in poor suburbs and satellite towns of Tehran.
Contact: PIO@emro.who.int
http://www.emro.who.int

3)An undiagnosed illness that causes its victims to vomit blood has killed 12 people and sickened 22 at a diamond mine in eastern Congo. Gerson Brandao, head of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the eastern Congolese province of Maniema, said the deaths had occurred in the past week among workers at a diamond mine near Punia, 280km west of Goma.
Contact:
http://www.monuc.org/ContactEn.aspx

Going to Iraq or Afghanistan?

1)Iraqi Airways will begin flights between Baghdad and Istanbul, the airline’s third foreign destination. The airline already flies to Amman, Jordan, and Damascus, Syria, and by Sept. 1st it could start flights to London from Baghdad and to the southern city of Basra. Connections to Lebanon, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates also are under discussion.
Those who are interested should check out:
http://www.aaco.org/airlines.asp
Head Office – Beirut Mailing Address: 13-5468 Beirut – Lebanon Operator Telephone: +961-1- 861297/8/9
Fax: +961-1-863168
E-mail: info@aaco.org

2)Iraq plans to build a multimillion-dollar international airport near the southern city of Najaf, a holy center for Shiite Muslims that would be financed largely by a low-interest loan from Iran. The facility, which would cost an estimated $20 million to $25 million, would largely serve religious pilgrims traveling to and from Iran.

3)Pakistani authorities have announced the closure of over 30 Afghan refugee camps by the end of August, citing security concerns. All are located in Kurram and Bajaur agencies in the western tribal belt of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.

Under the standard assistance package of the UNHCR, the Afghan returnees are issued with a travel grant ranging from US $3 to $30 per person depending on the distance they intend to travel within Afghanistan on their homeward journey. They are also given an additional $12 per person to help them re-establish themselves in their homeland.

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