An Egyptian farmer abandoned 10,000 newly hatched chicks to their fate on a desert road east of Cairo fearing they might be infected with the deadly bird flu virus, a police official said on Wednesday.
Shocked motorists travelling on the road about 130 km (80 miles) east of Cairo contacted police after seeing the chicks running loose on the tarmac on Tuesday, the official added.

Health officials gathered the chicks and confirmed after testing that they were not carrying the virus which has killed at least 80 people worldwide since late 2003.

"The man who dumped the chicks was a farmer who owns land in an area near the road and he thought the chicks had bird flu so he tried to get rid of them," the police official said.

The farmer had taken back the birds and would not be facing legal proceedings, the official added.

Egyptian media has reported many people are avoiding eating chicken since the H5N1 virus killed four people in Turkey, the only recorded human deaths so far outside East Asia.

Egyptian officials have repeatedly said regular and widespread testing by the health ministry has showed the country is so far free of the virus.

Source: Reuters