PESHAWAR, Dec 16: The federal government has expressed concern over the death of a person from bird flu virus in the NWFP and directed the provincial health department to hold an inquiry into the matter, sources said.

In a letter to the NWFP health department, the government expressed dissatisfaction over the measures being taken by the department to control the spread of bird flu virus. The health ministry had directed the provincial government to take concrete measures to prevent transmission of the virus to human, the source added.

The letter said the government had been imparting technical training to the officials concerned on modern lines for the last three years but non-existence of a surveillance system had strengthened fears about the threat posed by bird flu.

The provincial government had also been asked to explain why the health department had failed to develop a referral system to apply brakes to the disease.

According to the sources, the provincial government, on its part, had started holding meetings to fix the responsibility on officials for showing laxity in anti-flu effort.

Health secretary Abdul Samad Khan said that the provincial government had created special wards for suspected bird flu cases in 14 districts of the province. He said: “The blood samples of the two patients, reportedly died of bird flu, had not been received yet.”

He said that an emergency meeting, which took place under the health minister on Friday, issued warning to concerned departments to be alert to cope with the threats posed by the bird flu. The health and livestock departments had decided to develop a surveillance system to monitor the suspected cases, he added

The secretary said that a state of emergency had been declared in the hospitals of various cities, including Mansehra, Abbottabad, Mardan, Charsadda and Nowshera, besides keeping constant monitoring of poultry farms. He said that trained doctors and health workers would examine the patients.

Mr Khan said that guidelines regarding the culling of poultry suspected of carrying virus had already been provided to the people associated with the poultry industry. He said that availability of diagnostic facilities would also help detect the disease.