Hani al-Nazer, the former head of the National Research Center, explained that the dog flu cannot be transmitted to humans in a Facebook statement recently.
“I’d like to draw attention to the fact that scientific studies prove that the H3N2 virus infects dogs without being transferred to human beings. I want to reassure everyone before other people spread rumors or provide the usual misleading news to create chaos,” Nazar said.
Media channels have been circulating news that the dog flu, which began in Asia, infected infected thousands of dogs in the US states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana earlier this year.
People have been worried about the impact this may have on Egypt and the transmission of the flu from dog to human. Thought Nazer has indicated there is no risk to humans, he nonetheless urges caution against the virus entering the country.
“However, this also begs the attention of officials at the Agriculture Ministry to take precautionary measures to prevent it from entering Egypt,” he added.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
